JACKSON, Miss. – Justin Turner, M.D., has joined the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) in the role of chief medical officer.

Turner is an internal medicine physician and the CEO of Turner Care, LLC. He currently serves on the COVID-19 Task Forces for the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA) and the City of Jackson.

A resident of Madison, he is a 2003 graduate of Jackson State University and a 2008 graduate of Meharry Medical College. He completed his residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).

Turner has served as medical director for several hospice services in the Jackson Metro area, including Specialty Hospice – an organization serving several under-represented communities throughout the state. He has also served as the chief of medicine of the medicine division at St. Dominic Hospital, and the medical director for Walk of Faith Ministry.

“Dr. Turner will be a tremendous addition to our staff,” said MSDH State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney. “He’s highly respected in his field and very involved in the community. Service is not just what he does – it’s who he is.”

He has been recognized for numerous awards, including the 2022 inaugural Mississippi Children’s Museum Community Service Award, the 2021 Dr. Axel Hanson Distinguished Physician Award from Meharry Medical College, the 2020 Dr. James Waites Leadership Award from the MSMA, as well as being named a 2021 National Top 40 Under 40 Health Leader by the National Minority Quality Forum, and the Best Doctor of Jackson for 2018, 2020 and 2021 by the Jackson Free Press.

Turner was appointed to his position on August 1, 2022.

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