Originally posted 3:09 p.m. Dec. 22, 2022

Updated 4:26 p.m. Dec. 22, 2022

ATLANTA — Georgia Sen. Dean Burke has resigned his senate seat to become chief medical officer at the Department of Community Health, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday afternoon.

Kemp said the resignation will take effect Dec. 31.

“With a long and accomplished medical career in rural Georgia, as well as extensive policy experience as chairman of the Community Health Sub-Committee and vice chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, Senator Burke will bring a wealth of knowledge to the role of chief medical officer,” Kemp said. “I’m thankful for his willingness to serve in this new capacity for the benefit of all Georgians, including those in our rural communities.”

A special election for Burke’s seat will take place Jan. 31, 2023, the governor said.

Burke, a Bainbridge physician, has represented District 11 since 2013, when he filled the unexpired term of Sen. John Bulloch. The district includes all of Colquitt, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller and Seminole counties as well as portions of Mitchell and Thomas counties.

He said Thursday that the Department of Community Health approached him about the position after Kemp won re-election in November. Burke had run unopposed for his Senate seat in that same election.

“I’ve been managing their budget on the Senate side since I’ve been up there,” he said.

Burke said his focus as a senator has been on rural healthcare.

“My passion’s obviously been health care,” he said, noting his medical background. “I feel like I can make a difference there.”

Among the accomplishments of his service in the Senate were the creation of the Maternal Mortality Commission, formed in 2014 to determine why the state has extraordinarily high numbers of women dying in pregnancy, childbirth or soon afterwards and to come up with responses to address that problem; the creation of the Office of Health Strategy and Coordination, under the Office of the Governor, to study health care problems in Georgia; and creation of a database to help the state understand exactly what it’s paying for with health services.

Burke serves as chairman of the Insurance and Labor Committee and vice chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee and the Ethics Committee. He also serves as chairman of the Community Health Sub-Committee, which is responsible for over 14 percent of the total state budget. Prior to being elected to the state Senate, he served on the Bainbridge City Council for five years and on the Lower Flint Water Council.

Burke also serves as chief medical officer at Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge and also chairs the Stratus Healthcare Governing Board. He is a former member of the Hospital Authority of the City of Bainbridge and Decatur County. Burke graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia Southwestern University and went on to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia. He received his specialty training in obstetrics and gynecology at Mercer University School of Medicine and practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 27 years.