THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has appointed Dr K J Reena as the new director of the health department. The post was lying vacant for the past one and a half years. She was serving as additional director. To appoint the new director, a committee was formed with the principal secretary (health department) as convener, additional chief secretary of administrative reforms commission, secretary of law department and director of medical education department as members. Based on the findings of the panel, Health Minister Veena George appointed Reena as the director of the health department.

The department faced difficulty due to the absence of a permanent director. Dr Saritha, who was then DHS, retired in April 2021 and Dr Ramesan replaced him. When he retired, additional director Dr Raju was given the charge. Then the charge was handed over to Dr Preetha. However, when she applied for VRS, a committee was formed and Reena was nominated.