Both Friedlander and Stack became well-known public faces, serving through the entire pandemic and often appearing alongside Gov.Andy Beshear at press conferences.
With Friedlander stepping aside and Stack taking over the top role at the cabinet, Stack said — between COVID and the rebuilding of health services — it now feels like he's taking on yet another unforeseen challenge.
"It feels now that we're entering a third act with all sorts of challenges coming from the federal government," he said. "Folks, public health and Health and Family Services is essential to ensuring that we have healthier people and healthier communities. If we fail to invest in these services, we will all be worse off for it. So I'll end by saying the message that we kept coming back to throughout COVID, a message that I'll hearken back to often in the years ahead, is for us all to please be kind and caring and compassionate and considerate to each other."
As for finding a new health commissioner, Beshear said it will likely be a collaborative process between his office and Dr. Stack.