PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A top official in Rhode Island who oversees a network of health and human services agencies is leaving her position, Gov. Dan McKee announced Monday.

McKee said Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary Womazetta Jones will depart May 1.

The Democratic governor said Jones “stepped up whenever we needed her,” particularly when it came time to address longstanding issues at Rhode Island’s state psychiatric hospital, Eleanor Slater Hospital. Jones has said that those problems included hospital leaders who had lost the trust and confidence of the staff and community, as well as financial troubles.

Jones said she led using three guiding principles, choice, race equity and community engagement. She said her focus during the pandemic has been on keeping government running and ensuring that communities are safe. She has served as secretary since shortly before the pandemic began.

“While there has been positive transformation in our state’s healthcare, behavioral healthcare and social service systems that underpin the health and well-being of every resident in Rhode Island, more work is needed,” she said in a statement.

While she said she would have loved to continue serving as secretary to see these transformations through, her family needs her to return home to Chicago.