DES MOINES, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia has resigned, the governor’s office announced Monday.

Director of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) Larry Johnson will succeed her in leading the department.

Garcia served as head of the department for six years after Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed her to head the then-Department of Human Services in 2019. Garcia took on the role of interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the two departments were officially merged in 2022 under her leadership.

“Serving as the inaugural Director of Iowa’s Department of Health and Human Services has been a profound privilege,” Garcia said in the news

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