Next surgeon general gets Sanders’ call
Obstetrician-gynecologist Chandler chosen for post
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will appoint obstetrician-gynecologist Kay Chandler to serve as Arkansas’ next surgeon general, Sanders announced Monday.
Chandler has served as an obstetrician-gynecologist at Cornerstone Clinic in Little Rock since 1997 and has been included on the national Best Doctors Inc. list since 2005, the governor’s office said in a news release.
Sanders said Chandler will bring strong leadership and years of medical expertise to the state Department of Health.
“Dr. Chandler is a skilled, qualified OB-GYN who has spent decades serving women across Arkansas,” the Republican governor said in a news release.
“I promised that when I was elected governor, Arkansas would not have mask mandates or vaccine mandates and we would not shut down churches and schools because we believe in personal freedom and responsibility,” Sanders said. “I look forward to working together to protect the health, well-being and individual freedoms of Arkansans.”
Chandler replaces the state’s former surgeon general, Greg Bledsoe, who submitted his resignation to Department of Health interim Secretary Renee Mallory in a letter dated Friday.
“It has been my privilege to serve the people of Arkansas as the surgeon general for this wonderful state these past eight years,” Bledsoe wrote in his letter to Mallory. “Wishing you and your colleagues at the Arkansas Department of Health all the best as you continue to work on behalf of our state to further health and health care for all Arkansans.”
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, appointed Bledsoe as the state’s surgeon general in 2015. Bledsoe was part of state government’s response to the covid-19 pandemic in 2020, warning Arkansans in late March to take the virus seriously by social distancing and quarantining as necessary.
In May 2022, Bledsoe lost a bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor to current Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, who is the state’s former attorney general.
Bledsoe announced his resignation on Twitter on Friday afternoon, saying, “I wish [Gov. Sanders] & her admin. tremendous success
as they lead our state. I know they will do an excellent job.”
He had a $173,199 management consulting contract with the state Department of Health for the current fiscal 2023, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
Bledsoe said Monday in a text message to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he is the medical director of the emergency department at St. Mary’s Regional Health System in Russellville, and the chief executive officer of ExpedMed, a medical education company that directs the Expedition Medicine National Conference.
Chandler has been named the best obstetrician-gynecologist by Little Rock Family Magazine and AY Magazine, according to the governor’s office.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Hendrix College, received her doctor of medicine degree from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and completed her residency training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Chandler is dedicated to promoting health and wellness through true lifestyle change and has served as medical director of Ideal Health NOW! since 2011, according to the governor’s office.
She shares new women’s health care information on the medical Monday segment on THV11’s morning show, “THV This Morning,” and currently serves on the board for the Pulaski County Medical Society and on the board of trustees of the Arkansas Medical Society.
She is married to her husband of 30 years, dentist Jeffrey K. Chandler, who serves the Little Rock area at Chandler Family Dentistry.