Groove doctor: Acting US surgeon general is a dancing phenom
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Dancing can cause fun.
“Look, movement is good. Being active and being fit. That’s how I stay balanced,” Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, 53, told The Post shortly after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tapped her as the temporary U.S. surgeon general.
She knows what she is talking about. Haridopolos once busted a move with a “Dancing with the Stars” pro and did flips on a video to the Bee Gees with former “Dance Fever” host Deney Terrio. Their 2010 routine racked up a quarter million YouTube views.
“I haven’t danced on the main show [“Dancing with the Stars”], but I have danced with Pasha Pashkov,” she said, referencing her 2023 appearance at the annual Dancing for the Space Coast fundraiser, where she wore tassels on a silver sequined mini dress and grooved to Latin boogaloo classic “I Like it Like That.” Pashkov is a long-time dancer with DWTS.
Facebook / Space Coast Daily
Kennedy elevated his chief of staff to the role of the “Nation’s Doctor” after the nomination of Casey Means fell apart under opposition from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The post had gone unfilled for all of Trump’s second term.
Haridopolos, a primary care physician who started her practice in Melbourne, FL, was a go-to source on local TV health reports in Tampa, where she was quoted in 2010 speaking about an airline that refused to refund cancelled tickets for people with the H1N1 flu virus.
She has former “Dance Fever” host Deney Terrio. YouTube / janethshaffer
“I cringe. Policies need to be adjusted to our current times,” she said — long before the current administration had to arrange plans for battling the Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks.
She is married to US Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL).
She danced with Pasha Pashkov at a 2023 Space Coast fundraiser. Facebook / Space Coast Daily
Haridopolos described her role as “performing some of the duties of the surgeon general.” The office’s latest advisory, on screen time in schools, names only Health and Human Services Department staff.
She cited a medical study that said ballroom dance and other leisure activities can help put off dementia in addition to offering exercise benefits. YouTube / janethshaffer
“We have been really very fruitful and productive from the Office of the Surgeon General. I just think people didn’t pay attention to it because there wasn’t a principal in place,” she said.
The samba-loving bureaucrat can’t get too comfortable in her role. President Trump’s new nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News contributor and Trump’s third nominee, will waltz into the post if she gets confirmed by the Senate. But for now the Senate Health committee’s dance card is full, with no hearing scheduled.
