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Gov. John Lynch plans to nominate the deputy health commissioner as John Stephen's temporary replacement, several executive councilors said yesterday, Stephen's last day in the job.

Before Nicholas Toumpas can take over as acting commissioner, he needs Executive Council approval.

Choosing Toumpas - a five-year veteran of the health department - gives Lynch more time to search for the next commissioner. The role could be a difficult one to fill. Whoever enters the post will oversee the state's largest agency at a time when money is tight and the state's population is aging, further straining department resources. A shortage of management-level employees and outdated computer systems also await the next commissioner, health experts say.

"We certainly want the best person we can get," said Councilor Debora Pignatelli, a Nashua Democrat. "And if we don't have one right now, we want to make sure we get the right one."

Lynch had already begun searching for a new commissioner when Stephen announced his plans to resign before his term expired in October. Stephen, a Republican, is widely believed to be considering a run for Congress. He and Lynch, a Democrat, had clashed publicly over the years. Yesterday marked Stephen's last day as commissioner.

In his resignation letter, Stephen recommended Toumpas for the position.

Toumpas joined the department five years ago to lead the bioterrorism preparedness program. After then-Gov. Craig Benson, a Republican, nominated Stephen for the commissioner's post, Stephen asked Toumpas to stay on at the department, Toumpas said. Toumpas had a hand in the so-called Medicaid modernization plan. Shortly before Benson left office, he nominated Toumpas for deputy commissioner. Toumpas's term as deputy commissioner expires next August.

Before joining the health department, he spent more than two decades working in telecommunications and information technology.

Updating the health department's technology and reorganizing the agency have consumed much of Toumpas's time. He has also focused on finding ways for Medicaid patients and other recipients of government services to receive transportation to their doctors' offices and for other essential appointments. "Access to services, the health of individuals and so forth is all predicated on having transportation," Toumpas said.

Joe Diament, director of the Adolescent Treatment Initiative at the nonprofit New Futures and the former director of juvenile justice services at the health department, was at the agency when Toumpas began his reorganization effort. "There are all those personalities and turf issues that go on, and I thought he worked hard to do a good job there," Diament said. "I thought he was reasonable and polite."

If Toumpas becomes acting commissioner, he'll likely be less visible than Stephen. Before Republicans lost control of the Legislature last year, Stephen was a common presence at the State House: He frequently bypassed Lynch and went directly to legislative leaders for help in pursuing his agenda.

"I do not have an agenda," Toumpas said yesterday. "I'm very transparent in terms of what I do."

"I'm just looking to provide a steady hand and be able to move the department forward in face of some rather significant challenges," Toumpas added.

No official announcement of Toumpas's nomination came from Lynch's office yesterday. Pamela Walsh, the governor's deputy chief of staff, wouldn't comment on the nomination, other than to say that "the governor is talking to councilors about an acting commissioner."

But two councilors said that they received phone calls yesterday from members of Lynch's staff, who informed them that Lynch plans to nominate Toumpas for the interim post at next week's Executive Council meeting. Councilor Ray Burton, a Bath Republican, deemed Lynch's decision "a good move," and said that Toumpas "would be a natural." (next page »)