Jim Rosica
Dr. John Armstrong, Florida’s surgeon general and Health Department secretary, on Thursday said he has colon cancer and will be undergoing surgery Friday.
Armstrong, appointed in 2012, disclosed his diagnosis in a note to department employees.
“We all know health is personal, and today I need to share with you how it is impacting my life,” he said.
Armstrong, a trauma surgeon, said Dr. Celeste Philip, the department’s deputy secretary, would be acting secretary while he recovers.
“I appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this time,” Armstrong said.
Before his appointment, he was chief medical officer of the University of South Florida Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation and an associate professor of surgery at the university, according to his online biography.
He also has been trauma medical director at Shands-University of Florida Medical Center in Gainesville. In 2011, he was awarded the 2011 Exemplary Teacher designation at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
Armstrong is a graduate of Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the Army Command and General Staff College. He completed his career in the Army Medical Corps in 2005, attaining the rank of colonel.
Armstrong was in the news in April when a Florida Senate committee declined to confirm him after he repeatedly declined to discuss his opinion on Medicaid expansion, supported by most of the Senate.
Medicaid expansion has been opposed by House Republicans and Gov. Rick Scott, Armstrong’s boss. Scott later reappointed him.
Earlier Thursday, a spokesman said state Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga was recovering from successful surgery for kidney cancer.
The 62-year-old Labarga underwent the operation at Shands Hospital in Gainesville this week. He was diagnosed following a routine physical this year.
“Doctors found no signs that the cancer had spread and predict a full and quick recovery,” spokesman Craig Waters said.
