MADISON -- Gov. Scott Walker has appointed former Walworth County health official Linda Seemeyer to head the state Department of Health Services.
Walker on Thursday announced the 67-year-old Seemeyer as the replacement for Kitty Rhoades who died in June.
Seemeyer served as director of the Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services from 2007 until her retirement in 2015.
The department's two-year budget is about $7.4 billion, or roughly one-quarter of all state spending.
Seemeyer previously worked as director of the Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services and as deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration under Gov. Tommy Thompson.
She is set to begin as secretary Aug. 22. Interim Secretary Tom Engels will return to his former position as deputy.
Seemeyer will be paid $128,000.
