SC DHEC chief resigning for health, family reasons as coronavirus cases rise

COLUMBIA — Rick Toomey, who has led South Carolina's public health agency during the COVID-19 pandemic, resigned Wednesday, citing the need to stay healthy after his recent scare and desire to be in Beaufort full-time following the birth of his first grandchild. 

Toomey, 65, took a leave of absence in April for two weeks to get his blood pressure under control. His last day with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control will be June 10.

Board members thanked him for leading the agency during the unprecedented crisis. 

"It's a sad day for us," said board chairman Mark Elam. 

The board accepted his resignation just as positive coronavirus cases are rising again in the state, hitting a record weekly high. Testing for the virus has ramped up in recent weeks, surpassing on Tuesday the state's goal of 110,000 for the month.

Meeting that goal factored into the timing of his resignation, he said.  

"With my recent health experience that is under control and doing well, it made me take a step back to access where I want to be in my life in this point and time and with the birth of my first grandchild," Toomey said, later noting his grandson is 3½ months old. "It makes me understand I'd like to be in Beaufort and the commitment of being in Columbia five days a week is tough. ... I don't want to have worked my entire life and not taken a step back."

Toomey's wife is a doctor at a Beaufort hospital, and he said he also wants to be there to support her.  

"It's never a good time to make a decision such as this," he continued. "The state, the nation has gone through some really challenging times during the last three months. We're in a better place today than we were a month, two months ago. ... It's time for me to step aside."

DHEC has not publicly opposed Gov. Henry McMaster's efforts to reopen South Carolina even without the prolonged decline in the number of coronavirus cases as recommended by federal health officials. South Carolina has lifted bans on most activities except those that attract large crowds like movie theaters, nightclubs and stadiums.

The 20 deaths reported Wednesday set a new daily high in South Carolina. Since the pandemic started in March, 466 South Carolinians have died from COVID-19. At least 10,623 have been diagnosed with the virus that can be deadly, particularly to the elderly and people with underlying conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Two-thirds of the South Carolinians killed by the disease have been over age 70.

Exactly how many have been sickened is unknown, as only the very sick, health care workers and first responders were tested before the statewide ramp up that focused on nursing homes, and rural communities and minorities that are disproportionately sickened and dying because they lack access to health care. In all, 181,154 people have been tested since early March. 

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Testing has actually gone down in the last few days, but Toomey attributed that to there being no mobile sites set up for two days during the long holiday weekend. The numbers of tests will rise again, he said. In addition to the mobile testing, more than 140 providers now offer testing, and that will increase to more than 200 in the coming weeks, he said. 

For many weeks, South Carolina ranked among the nation's lowest in tests per capita, an issue DHEC blamed on supplies going to states with more cases. 

Toomey, a former hospital administrator, was named DHEC's director in late 2018, following a 17-month search. 

His resignation comes a day before the expected final meeting of McMaster's accelerateSC task force advising him on how to safely reopen South Carolina's economy. Toomey led a subcommittee of that group. 

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The Republican governor has consistently rolled back restrictions and mandated closures over the last month, most recently allowing tourist attractions of all sizes to re-open ahead of the Memorial Day holiday.

Youth sports and adult recreation leagues can return to athletic fields for practice in a few days. That will leave the only activities and businesses still banned from opening as bowling alleys, spectator sports — both college and professional — and places that pack a lot of people inside, such as concert halls, theaters, night clubs, and arenas. 

McMaster said people will continue to contract the virus, and he expects the number sickened to go up as more people are tested. What's important is that people realize they still need to socially distance and take precautions, especially around those most vulnerable, despite the lifting of restrictions. 

As for those who didn't over the Memorial Day weekend, he said, "I think people are ready to get outside and it showed."

But he has no plans to re-close anything. 

"We can't have an epidemiologist, a police officer, and a momma and a daddy following everybody around reminding them what they're supposed to do," the governor said. "The virus is still here. It's just as deadly as it was before, and it can be fatal, so we must be careful. We cannot force everybody to do everything. People armed with knowledge and information should use common sense and take care of themselves and their neighbors and families, and we'll be just fine."

Toomey said he wished he "could've stayed a little longer." 

"There's a sense the mission hasn’t been completed," he said. "But I’m not sure DHEC's mission is ever completed." 

Marshall Taylor, the agency's chief attorney, will again serve as acting director. He has been in that position three times before, most recently during Toomey's health scare. He previously stepped into the role from January to May 2015, and in January and February of 2019, when the state Senate confirmed Toomey as director.