The former Veterans Affairs secretary who departed the Trump administration after an ethics investigation will be joining Sanford Health as an administrator.

David Shulkin will become chief innovation officer and a strategic adviser for the Sioux Falls-based health system.

He will oversee Sanford Research, Imagenetics, Sanford Chip, Profile and other initiatives, and advise on the health system's growth plan and public policy efforts.

Shulkin will also join the Sanford International Board and serve as an ambassador for the health system in both "domestic and international projects," Sanford said in a press release.

"I really see helping an organization I really believe in," he told the Sioux Falls Business Journal. "I think Sanford Health is one of the most innovative organizations in the country, really, thanks to (Sanford CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft's) leadership for positioning the organization to have a big impact nationally."

Shulkin was previously secretary of the VA, overseeing the nation's largest integrated health-care system, until March. He claims he was fired by President Trump. The White House has maintained he resigned.

Shulkin was the target of a scathing February report by the VA's internal watchdog which found Shulkin improperly accepted Wimbledon tickets, flew his wife to Europe at the VA's expense and used a VA aide to plan leisure activities. Shulkin disputed the report but agreed to reimburse the VA for the tickets and travel expenses.

Shulkin was the lone holdover in Trump's cabinet from the President Barack Obama administration. While VA secretary, he told lawmakers he faced political appointees within his department. He later said he was targeted by members of the Trump administration who saw him as a foe to privatization of the VA health care system.

"I think I was ... very clear that the issues that led to me leaving were related to my principles of where I felt that the VA needed to go and certain political appointees who felt that the VA should go much more toward a privatization issue," he said. "To suggest that it had anything to do with government misspending is just a complete red herring. Everything that was done was 100 percent pre-approved. As soon as there was concern about a single coach airfare ticket, I paid the full thing back."

Shulkin, a medical doctor, was previously a top administrator of medical centers in New York and Pennsylvania.

“Secretary Shulkin is one of the most talented health care leaders in the country, and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Sanford Health,” said Krabbenhoft in a prepared statement. “His unique perspective, clinical expertise and powerful voice will further Sanford Health’s continued development and diversification, which is so critical to our ability to bring new treatments and cures to the patients we serve.”

Shulkin said he sees his role at Sanford as "helping Kelby help the organization, to take it to the next level."

He first got to know Sanford and Krabbenhoft while at the VA, due to Sanford's work on genomics and rural health care, Shulkin said. He said he was impressed by both the work Sanford was doing and its willingness to share ideas with other organizations.

"It was really an exposure to a type of health system that both intrigued me but also, the more I learned about it, the more excited I was about the work they were doing," he said. "I think they have an opportunity to have a bigger impact on the country than even they've had in the past."