Gov. Deval Patrick Announces Changes In His Cabinet

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick says four cabinet secretaries departing his administration all left on their own and would have been welcome to stay for the final two years of his term.

Patrick officially announced Thursday that Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, Public Safety Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan, Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez and Education Secretary Paul Reville, will leave next month.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital president John Polanowicz will replace Bigby, who had come under scrutiny for her response to a drug testing scandal in a former state public health lab,

Patrick said Bigby has done a "remarkable" job.

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral will take over Heffernan's post. Glen Shor, head of the state's health insurance connector, will replace Gonzalez and Brockton School Superintendent Matthew Malone will succeed Reville.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.