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Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, a Brevard County family physician and wife of U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.), has been tapped to temporarily carry out select duties of the U.S. Surgeon General as the Trump administration continues its search for a permanent nominee to lead the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG).
The appointment was first reported by Bloomberg, based on an email sent to staff by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine, M.D. is using his delegation of authority powers to allow Dr. Haridopolos to begin carrying out many of the duties of the Surgeon General on behalf of the American people,” an HHS spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “She will promote OSG public health actions, advisories, and guidance until the next Surgeon General is sworn into office.”
Dr. Haridopolos currently serves as director of national health communications, chief of staff and senior adviser at the OSG, a role she has used to help shape federal health messaging. She will now assume broader responsibilities in that office on an acting basis.
The surgeon general position has remained vacant throughout President Trump’s second term. His first two nominees, Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means, both failed to advance in the Senate. Last month, President Trump withdrew the nomination of Means and named former Fox News contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier as his latest pick for the permanent role. Saphier’s confirmation has not yet been scheduled.
Dr. Haridopolos brings a background in both clinical medicine and health policy to the acting role. As a Florida state legislator, she led an effort to expand eligibility for subsidized coverage under Florida KidCare from 200 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, extending health coverage to thousands of additional children across the state.
Her path to medicine was shaped in part by her own experience as a patient. Born with an atrial septal defect, a structural abnormality involving the chambers of the heart, she has said the experience gave her a patient-centered perspective she has carried throughout her career.
“I started out life as a patient, and so I was always looking through the lens of a patient,” Dr. Haridopolos told the University of South Florida. “The experience I had as a child created in me a yearning to give back something greater than myself. So, this has been a lifelong journey for me and I feel like I was meant to be here.”
She told USF that her work in state health policy ultimately drove her toward the federal level.
“Getting involved in statewide health policy has driven me to help more people,” she said. “When the opportunity arose with this administration, I felt that the stars were aligned for me to take all this experience I had on the front lines and funnel it into a federal position. That’s why I’m here.”
Rep. Mike Haridopolos represents Florida’s 8th Congressional District, which covers much of Brevard County. The Hill has reached out to his office for comment on his wife’s new duties.
The Space Coast Rocket will continue to follow this developing story.
