Secretary Sebelius Announces Five New HHS Regional Directors

Secretary Sebelius Announces Five New HHS Regional Directors



Posted : Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:17:44 GMT
Author : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Category : Press Release




WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the appointment of five new regional directors of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Christie Hager, Region I – Boston (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
Jaime R. Torres, Region II – New York City (NY, NJ, NY, PR, VI)
Joanne Grossi, Region III – Philadelphia (PA, DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV)
Marguerite Salazar, Region VIII – Denver (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)
Herb K. Schultz, Region IX – San Francisco (AZ, CA, HI, NV, Guam, PI, AS)
"I am very pleased to welcome Christie, Jaime, Joanne, Marguerite, and Herb to HHS,” said Secretary Sebelius. “They will play a vital role in our department’s effort to effectively implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead to achieve HHS’s mission to protect the health of all Americans and provide essential human services."

As HHS regional directors, they will serve as key representatives of Secretary Sebelius in working with federal, state, local, and tribal officials on a wide range of health and social service issues.

Biographies:

Christie Hager, JD, MPH is currently an Adjunct Lecturer on Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research and teaching focus on state regulation of health care and public health, health care access, and the legislative process. From 2004-2009, she served on the staff of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as Chief Health Counsel in the Office of the Speaker during the development, enactment and first three years of implementation of the health reform law passed in 2006. She previously served as Deputy Director of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. She was appointed Senior Fellow at the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School, where she served as Director and Principal Investigator at the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, from 1999-2002. She also previously worked on the editorial staff of the New England Journal of Medicine. Ms. Hager received an AB from Smith College, a MPH from the Boston University School of Public Health, and a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Jaime R. Torres, DPM, MS, is currently Associate Director of Consultative Services at Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital, part of New York City’s Health and Hospital Corporation--the nation’s largest public hospital system. He is the founder and President of Latinos for National Health Insurance, a national coalition working for equality in healthcare. He is on the Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Council on Aging and served on the Advisory Board of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) from 2000-2006. For eight years he represented the NHMA in the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. As vice-chair of NDEP’s Hispanic/Latino Work Group, he was instrumental in creating bilingual health campaigns for people with diabetes. In 2006, he was a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association’s campaign “Descubras sus pies” (Discover Your Feet) which educated the Latino community on how to prevent foot ailments related to diabetes. Dr. Torres received his Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and a master’s degree in Community Health from Long Island University.

For the past seven years, Joanne Grossi has served in the administration of Governor Edward G. Rendell, first as Deputy Secretary of Health and later as the first- ever Director of the Office of Women’s Services. During her five-year tenure as Deputy Secretary for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2003 to 2008, Ms. Grossi oversaw all the public health programs for the Commonwealth, including tobacco cessation and prevention; obesity prevention; drug and alcohol programs; and maternal and child health programs. As Director of the Office of Women’s Services at the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare from 2008 to 2010, Ms. Grossi administered statewide programs that provide assistance to women, including family planning/reproductive health; domestic violence; sexual violence; and the breast and cervical cancer treatment program. Before joining the Governor’s Administration, Ms. Grossi served for 13 years as a Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Global Health at the United States Agency for International Development, where she oversaw international health programs in developing countries. Earlier in her career, Ms. Grossi served on the staffs of Congressman Peter Kostmayer and Ambassador Millicent H. Fenwick at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy. Ms. Grossi earned her master’s degree in International Public Policy at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and completed additional graduate education at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health and Hygiene. She earned her B.A. in journalism at Temple University.

Marguerite Salazar has served as President/CEO of Valley Wide Health Services, Inc. (VWHS) since 1989. VWHS is one of the largest rural Community Health Centers in the country, providing primary care to over 40,000 residents of the San Luis, Lower Arkansas and Upper Arkansas Valleys in Southern Colorado. VWHS is recognized for exceptional outcomes with prenatal care and reducing ER utilization through Convenient Care in some of the poorest areas of Colorado. Previously, Ms. Salazar directed Access Social Work Service, a firm that contracted with local public health departments, hospitals and nursing homes to provide social work services. Ms. Salazar is a Fellow in the National Hispana Leadership Institute as well as a Livingston Fellow in the Bonfil Stanton Foundation, a Trustee for the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation and was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. to the Board of Governors for Colorado State University. She was appointed by Governor Bill Owens to serve as a Policy Board Member for the Colorado Children's Basic Health Plan. In 1999, she was awarded the Bernie Valdez Award for Excellence in Health from the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA). She holds a Master's degree in counseling psychology from Adams State College in Colorado.

Herb K. Schultz, MPP, is currently Senior Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and since January of this year, also the Director of the California Recovery Task Force. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As Senior Advisor to the Governor from 2008-2010, he represented the Governor on major domestic policy issues, which included serving as a principal advisor on health care reform. Previously, he served as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to the Governor during California's 2006-2008 state debate on comprehensive health care reform. From 2005-2006, he served as Vice President of Government Programs for McKesson Health Solutions, where he oversaw the company’s disease management and nurse advice programs for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. During the first year of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Administration, Mr. Schultz served as Acting Director of the California Employment Development Department. He also previously served as a member of former Governor Gray Davis’ Cabinet as Acting Secretary for the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. He served as the Agency’s Undersecretary before his Cabinet-Level appointment, and remained in both roles until the end of the Davis Administration. Prior to that, he was Deputy Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Managed Health Care, and served as Director of the Advisory Committee on Managed Health Care. Mr. Schultz received his BA in Political Science and International Studies from The American University in Washington, DC and has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, also in Washington, DC.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.



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