Dr. Dan Edney, a Vicksburg physician, has been named chief medical officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health and regional health officer for the Central Public Health Region.

Edney aid he will remain in private practice at Medical Assoicates of Vicksburg in addition to his role with the state.

Edney, a 30-year Vicksburg resident, is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical School, where he graduated with summa cum laude distinction and numerous other honors.

He has served on the staff of Medical Associates of Vicksburg and most recently as the medical director for several local nursing homes and hospice services, as well as the addictionologist for several mental health facilities.

“I am so pleased to have a physician of Dr. Edney’s stature join the MSDH team,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, State Health Officer, said in a release Friday. “We really recognized his talents as he worked with us on COVID-19, and I am confident his contributions will be significant.”

Edney is a longtime member of the American Medical Association and the Mississippi State Medical Association, in which he currently serves as Immediate Past President and on the Board of Trustees, and has served previously in the role of president, speaker and vice speaker of the House of Delegates, and as chairman of the young physician’s section.

“I look forward to joining this amazing team. I have always been a physician in the private sector, but this last year I have seen the importance of merging the public and private sectors,” Edney said. “This is a great partnership that needs to continue as we move forward.”