Interim health commissioner Preston Doerflinger resigned Wednesday after allegations of past spousal abuse surfaced.
The board of the Oklahoma State Department of Health accepted Doerflinger’s resignation, after spending over an hour in a private meeting to discuss his employment.
On Monday, The Frontier reported that Tulsa police responded to a domestic violence call at Doerflinger’s house in 2012. Police reports show his then-wife told officers she was choked during an argument — but authorities did not pursue charges.
In 2012, not long after being temporarily placed in charge of DHS, Preston Doerflinger was accused by his wife of choking her, taking away her phone, then forcing her into a room and choking her again during an argument, @readfrontier has learned. https://t.co/9wksGMet8t
— The Frontier (@readfrontier) February 13, 2018
Before Governor Mary Fallin appointed Doerflinger to lead the embattled health agency, which is being investigated for $30 million dollars of financial mismanagement, Doerflinger was head of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services and the governor’s finance secretary. An OMES spokesperson says Doerflinger has also resigned from those positions.
The health agency’s federal policy director will run the agency until a long-term replacement is chosen.
My statement on the resignation of Preston Doerflinger as interim commissioner of @HealthyOklahoma and as Cabinet secretary of finance, administration and information technology. https://t.co/pMrXhUSiak
— Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) February 13, 2018
