Gov. Phil Scott has tapped Dr. Rick Hildebrant, chief medical information officer at Rutland Regional Medical Center, to serve as Vermont’s new health commissioner. He also on Friday appointed Kendal Smith, a longtime member of his administration, to lead the Department of Labor.
Smith, who has been serving as deputy commissioner, will be replaced in that role by Chris Winters, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Winters has led the Department for Children and Families since 2023, presiding over the state’s motel housing program as it became a major political flashpoint. Sandi Hoffman, deputy commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access, will lead DCF on an interim basis, the release said.
The health department had been without a permanent leader since March, when its longtime commissioner, Dr. Mark Levine, stepped down. Hildebrant, an internal medicine doctor who also serves as medical director of hospital medicine at Rutland Regional, will take over at a tumultuous moment for public health.
The Trump administration has terminated health grants, fired federal health workers, restricted certain health data and changed vaccine guidance, among other actions.
Hildebrant alluded to national headwinds in a statement announcing his appointment.
“Even as public health leadership faces challenges nationally, Vermont has consistently demonstrated that collaboration, science, and community can chart a different course,” he said.
He’ll start his new role Oct. 13, while Smith and Winters will begin Sept. 22.
