Kelly Garcia, the director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, will step down next month.
Gov. Kim Reynolds made the announcement on Monday in a statement, saying after nearly six years of heading the state's largest agency, Garcia plans to leave the state at an unspecified day in October.
“Since her arrival in Iowa, Director Garcia has led with vision and dedication, driving transformative progress within Iowa’s health and human services systems. Her leadership at HHS has delivered meaningful results for Iowans across our state,” Reynolds said in a statement.
Reynolds did not give a reason for Garcia's departure, but said Larry Johnson, the current director of the state Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, will replace Garcia.
Garcia and Johnson will work together over the next few weeks as part of a transition plan.
Reynolds appointed Garcia, who was working as a deputy executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to lead the Iowa Department of Human Services in November 2019 after she asked director Jerry Foxhoven to resign. Several months later, Garcia was appointed to be interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health after director Gerd Clabaugh retired in July 2020.
Garcia oversaw the merger between Iowa DHS and IDPH in 2022, creating the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which employs about 4,500 people.
In a statement, she said leading Iowa HHS "has been a profound privilege."
“I’m deeply proud of our work to support Iowa’s families, from strengthening child protective services to improving health care access, especially for Iowa’s most vulnerable. I’m thankful to Gov. Reynolds for this tremendous opportunity and to the incredible HHS team for their tireless dedication to our state," she said.
