Drew Wilson
Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees announced some new hires for top-level positions at the Florida Department of Health on Monday.
Joining the Department of Health’s executive leadership team are Robert Karch, who will serve as the Deputy Secretary for Children’s Medical Services, and Shamarial Roberson, who will serve as Deputy Secretary for Health.
“Florida needs strong and experienced leaders to lead our Health Department and I am extremely pleased to see Dr. Karch and Dr. Roberson take on their new roles,” Rivkees said. “Both bring the right set of skills at the right time. They are extremely talented, and I look forward to working with them to continue to protect the health of all Floridians.”
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez added, “The new appointments to the leadership team of the Department of Health represent decades of combined experience in the public health sector. I’m confident the skillset each of these outstanding individuals brings to their respective areas will help Florida remain on the cutting edge of public health policy.”
Karch comes to DOH from The Nemours Foundation, where he has worked since 2011. There, he served as the President of the Medical Staff and as the Chairman of the Medical Executive Committee.
He is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
He completed his pediatric internship and residency training at the Miami Children’s Hospital, where he also served as Chief Pediatric Resident. Following residency, he served in the National Health Service Corp as a general pediatrician in rural northern Arizona at the Canyonlands Community Health Care Center in Page, AZ.
Roberson is a longtime DOH employee who most recently served as Director for the Division of Community Health Promotion. She joined the Department as a chronic disease epidemiologist and evaluator where she served for two years as the bureau epidemiologist.
Roberson was also a section administrator in Chronic Disease Prevention, providing administrative direction and policy coordination for the Bureau. Her first job out of college was as a middle school teacher, where she taught science and health for more than four years.
