New York Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah will be leaving in June to take a position as senior vice president, chief operating officer for clinical operations for the Southern California region for the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.
Health department spokesman Bill Schwarz says the move has been in the works for weeks.
During Shah's tenure as state health commissioner, he's become a lightning rod for critics of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas because of the Cuomo administration's plan for an extended review of the technology. The health department also established a state health insurance exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Cuomo administration officials say Shah's departure is unrelated to criticism of his actions.
Shah's interim replacement will be Dr. Howard Zucker, the department's first deputy commissioner since last September.
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