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AUSTIN (KXAN) – In a city memo on Friday, Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard announced the agency’s new local health agency.
Desmar Walkes, MD, who has been the local health authority for neighboring Bastrop County since 2007, will become Dr. Replace Mark Escott, who took over the health authority on an interim basis in 2019.
Dr. Mark Escott is joining Austin City as Chief Medical Officer
“Dr. Walkes has 33 years of healthcare experience as a family doctor, medical agency, medical director, and administrative medicine,” wrote Hayden-Howard in the memo. “She was the Bastrop County’s COVID-19 response contact and accepted attended regular meetings with elected officials, Texas public health officials, schools, nursing homes, businesses, and residents. “
Walkes founded the A + Lifestyle Medical Group
Walkes begins May 31, said Hayden-Howard.
The health authority reports to the APH director and is responsible for the clinical oversight of the medical-related services provided by APH and its licensed professionals, the memo states.
Escott was the Provisional Health Authority for 20 months during the COVID-19 pandemic and was not paid to do so. He’s now the chief medical officer for the city of Austin.
“When he took on this role, we could never have imagined that we would be faced with a pandemic and that we would have relied so heavily on Dr. Escott as our health department, ”said Hayden-Howard.
“He brought with him professionalism, solid medical expertise and a steady hand that built trust in our community during this incredibly challenging time,” she said.
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