Frye named interim Commissioner of Health
Friday, May 22, 2020
Col. Lance Frye, M.D., OSU Center for Health Sciences residency program director and interim department chair and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology, was named interim Oklahoma Commissioner of Health by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday, May 22.
Frye also serves as State Air Surgeon and senior medical officer for the Oklahoma Air National Guard. He was appointed to the governor’s Solution Task Force, a multi-agency group tasked with strengthening the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Oklahoma.
“Col. Frye is a proven leader and highly qualified medical expert who has faithfully served our country and state with a focus on the health of those around him for over 25 years,” said Stitt. “As a respected health care professional who has vast experience operating under pressure, I have full faith in his ability to continue upon the momentum we have seen the Oklahoma State Department of Health undergo over the past eight months and lead this critical agency as we respond to the worst pandemic in a century.”
Frye thanked Stitt and Secretary of Health and Mental Health Jeremy Loughridge for giving him the opportunity to serve Oklahoma during such a critical time.
“Gov. Stitt has said his number one goal is to protect the health and lives of Oklahomans, and that is a mission I am honored to carry out,” Frye said. “We are all in this together, and I am confident we will continue the great progress we have made in our fight against COVID-19.”
Frye graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1993 and a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in 1997. After several years of practicing medicine, he joined the Air Force in 2005 as a flight surgeon and was deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He then transitioned to the Air National Guard and moved to Tulsa 2010.
"Col. Frye is an outstanding Airman. He has always looked out for the best interest of those he serves with, and I am sure he will do the same in his new role as interim Commissioner of Health at OSDH."
Loughridge has been serving alongside Frye for the past several months on the state’s COVID-19 response.
“I can definitively say he evinces all of the character, experience and get-it-done attitude that we need to lead our Department of Health,” Loughridge said. “I have no doubt he will bring his experience as a servant-leader to bear in vital ways as he provides guidance to one of our State’s most important agencies and works toward the objective of helping all Oklahomans flourish.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu