Holcomb Names State’s New Health Commissioner
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana has named its next State Health Commissioner. Kristina Box, who has spent more than 30 years as an OB-GYN at Indianapolis-based Community Health Network, was selected by Governor Eric Holcomb to fill the role vacated earlier this year by Jerome Adams.
“I can think of no one better suited than Dr. Box to lead our state’s health department at this critical time in Indiana history,” said Holcomb. “She brings a wealth of deep knowledge and experience, and she is uniquely qualified to lead our state’s efforts to curb infant mortality rates and attack the opioid epidemic.”
Dr. Box started at Community Hospitals of Indianapolis in 1987 as a private practitioner in OB-GYN with Clearvista Women’s Care. Since 2015, she has served as the Physician Lead for Community Health Network’s Women’s Service Line. In this role, she built the first multi-disciplinary Women’s Center in Community Health Network, developed critical partnerships with area children’s hospitals to improve care and decrease health care costs, and led efforts to ensure low-income women receive the important free health screenings they need.
“Throughout my career I have focused on promoting the health of my individual patients and their unborn children,” said Box. “Over the past two years, my work with substance abuse disorder in pregnancy and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome has allowed me to expand my focus statewide. I look forward to working closely with our team at the State Department of Health to decrease infant mortality and on many other issues to promote a healthier and safer Indiana.”
Box earned her undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington and her medical doctorate at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. She is a member of the Indiana State Medical Association, the Marion County Medical Association, and serves on many hospital committees. Additionally, Dr. Box has been involved in ongoing surgical medical missions to Haiti and Bolivia for more than a decade.
Adams left the position to become the 20th Surgeon General of the United States, role for which he was confirmed last month. Her first day with the Indiana State Department of Health will be October 16.