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New Leaders Appointed at HHS Agencies

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has filled several key leadership posts in recent weeks.

HRSA Administrator

George Sigounas, PhD, MS, has been named administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which administers the 340B Drug Pricing Program. He replaces Acting Administrator Jim Macrae, MA, MPP, who will return to leading HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care.

Sigounas for the past 23 years has been a professor of medicine at East Carolina University, in North Carolina. He previously served as an inspector for the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, the nonprofit corporation that accredits cellular therapy facilities and programs; and a scientist and researcher at the National Institutes of Health and the Naval Medical Center.

National Coordinator for Health IT

Donald Rucker, MD, has been named National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT). He takes the place of Acting National Coordinator Jon White, MD, who will return to his position as deputy national coordinator.

Rucker is an adjunct professor in The Ohio State University College of Medicine’s bioinformatics department and previously served as chief medical officer at Siemens.

FDA Commissioner

The Senate in a 57-42 vote on May 9 confirmed Scott Gottlieb as Food and Drug Administration commissioner. He replaces Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, MD.

Gottlieb previously served as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and worked as a consultant to drug manufacturers, including serving on the advisory boards of GlaxoSmithKline and Daiichi Sankyo.

AHRQ Director

Gopal Khanna, MBA, has been named director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). He steps in for Acting Director Sharon Arnold, PhD, MPH, who has held the position since January.

Khanna previously served as director of Illinois’ first data analytics health care and human services innovation incubator; Minnesota’s first chief information officer; and chief information officer and chief financial offer of the Peace Corps and chief financial officer of the Office of Administration’s executive office under President George W. Bush. He specializes in data-driven approaches to advance organizational operations.

Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.

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About the Author

Michelle Rosenfeld is manager of communications at America's Essential Hospitals.

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