Burke previously served as the Chief Medical Officer for DCH, where he advised the leadership team on healthcare policy and quality improvement activities throughout each division. Prior to joining DCH, he represented Senate District 11 where he served as Chairman of the Insurance and Labor Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Health and Human Services and Ethics Committee, an Ex-Officio of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, the Secretary of the Appropriations Committee, and was a member of the Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee and the Rules Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Community Health Appropriations sub-committee.

Prior to his election to the state Senate, Burke served on the Bainbridge City Council for five years and on the Lower Flint Water Council. He also worked as Chief Medical Officer at Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge and Chaired the Stratus Healthcare Governing Board. He is a former member of the Hospital Authority of the City of Bainbridge and Decatur County.
Burke graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia Southwestern University and went on to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia. He received his specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mercer University School of Medicine and practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 27 years in rural Georgia. Burke and his wife, Thea, have two children and three grandchildren, and they reside in Bainbridge.

Commissioner Burke is supported by a team of executives that includes: 

  • Emily Yona – Chief of Staff
  • Joseph Hood – Chief Operating Officer
  • Lynnette Rhodes – Chief Health Policy Officer
  • Chad Purcell – Chief Technology Officer
  • Melanie Simon, Esq. – General Counsel
  • Cody Whitlock – Chief Financial Officer
  • Rachel Lemoine – Strategic Finance Director
  • TBD - Executive Director, Analytics and Program Improvement
  • Stacey Hillock – Designee for Agency Decisions
  • Brian Annino, Esq. – Commissioner's Designee and Ethics Officer
  • Stuart Portman - Executive Director, Medical Assistance Plans
  • Louis Amis – Executive Director, State Health Benefit Plan
  • Lisa Davies – Executive Director, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division
  • Nita Ham – Executive Director, State Office of Rural Health
  • Sonja Allen-Smith – Inspector General
  • Karesha Laing – Executive Director, Health Planning
  • Joscelyne Minor - Director, Human Resources
  • Brandy Sylvan – Director, Government Relations
  • TBD – Director, Communications
  • Shawn Walker – Director, Project Management
  • Terry Conrad – Comptroller