One of North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein’s first acts upon assuming office earlier this year was to name a new Secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, and from the looks of things thus far, the person to whom he turned, Dr. Dev Sangvai, was a winning selection.

Since taking office, Sangvai — a family medicine practitioner and Duke University professor – has quickly hit the ground running and emerged as forceful voice for commonsense in the often rancorous world of health care policy.

Most recently Sangvai has spoken out publicly and energetically in opposition to the massive Medicaid and SNAP food assistance cuts working their way through Congress. And as Sangvai reminded NC Newsline, his concerns about the cuts are about more than mere empathy for struggling families – they’re also based on hard data which show the devastating ripple effects the cuts will have on North Carolina’s overall health and economic wellbeing.

Click here to listen to the full interview with NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai.