South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s (DHEC) director Catherine Templeton announced her resignation to the DHEC board Thursday. Her resignation is effective Jan. 12.
“When Governor [Nikki] Haley pulled me from the private sector, I promised her four years of public service and I have fulfilled my commitment. I’m looking forward to serving the state from a different position,” said Templeton in a DHEC release.
Before serving as DHEC director beginning in 2012, Templeton was appointed Secretary of Labor for South Carolina in 2010, which included the federal Occupational Safety and Health program (OSHA) and immigration. She had also worked in the private sector as an attorney with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart.
As DHEC director, Templeton helped reduce the time required for an environmental permit by 40 percent and cut the large agency’s budget by $68 million and maintained operations during the federal government shutdown, according to the agency. DHEC worked to address a state health crisis, obesity, and launched an Obesity Action Plan in Sept. 2014.
Templeton faced controversy in 2013 when elementary school children in Ninety Six were exposed to tuberculosis by a school janitor and DHEC did not respond by testing children and other staff for the disease until two months after learning the janitor had a contagious form of tuberculosis. She appeared before a state Senate hearing on the issue and the timing of DHEC officials’ knowledge of the positive cases. The agency terminated some regional staff after the exposures and was later praised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for its response to the exposure, according to the release.
During the recent surfacing of cases of Ebola in the United States, DHEC and Templeton participated in a roundtable on how the state would respond if cases came to South Carolina.
“Losing her service is a loss for every part of this state, but the Lowcountry sure will celebrate having her back,” said U.S. Senator Tim Scott in the statement.
Templeton was appointed by the S.C. Senate until 2016, but told the DHEC board in October that she would be leaving before then and submitted an official resignation letter in January, according to the agency.
