So here's some bios of technocrats that I think are clearly more qualified to be HHS administrator than Daschle. I'd look at the Health directors of the 4 biggest states, Shalala's top administrative aides who helped oversee the entire HHS administration, as well as the star regional directors of HHS under Shalala:
http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/5807/
Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Dr. Mark Horton Director of Department of Public Health and State Public Health Officer Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of Dr. Mark Horton as director of the newly formed California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and state public health officer.
"Nothing is more essential to our state than protecting our people. Since I first appointed Mark more than a year ago, he has demonstrated unfailing commitment to protecting the health of all Californians," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Mark has dedicated over three decades to protecting public health and safety and ensuring the protection and well-being of children. His experience, knowledge and skills make him the right person to serve California in this critical role."
To underscore his commitment to public health, last year, the Governor signed SB 162 which created a statutorily separate Department of Public Health. This new Department will bring greater focus to the issues of public health by moving public health functions currently within the Department of Health Services to the new department.
The CPDH creates a more effective public health infrastructure in California, to decrease illness, injury and death rates; provides greater protection for California residents in the event of an act of bioterrorism or other major public health emergency; and increases accountability and improves program effectiveness for the public health.
“This new Department of Public Health is another way we are strengthening our state's emergency preparedness and taking action to make the state safer,” the Governor said.
In 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Dr. Horton as the California state public health officer. In this position, Horton is responsible for advising the Governor, the secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of the Department of Health Services on public health issues.
"I am honored Governor Schwarzenegger has asked me to continue serving the people of California in this new capacity," said Horton. "I look forward to using my experience in state government and as a physician and public health official to work for the protection of health for all Californians."
Horton is a pediatrician and public health official with more than 30 years of experience. He previously served as the deputy agency director and health officer for the County of Orange Health Care Agency from 1999 to 2005. Prior to that, he was vice president for community programs, director of the Center for Child Protection and director of the Center for Healthier Communities for Children at San Diego Children's Hospital and Health Center from 1997 to 1999.
For the preceding six years, Horton served as director of public health for the State of Nebraska. From 1990 to 1991, he was director of general and ambulatory pediatrics for Creighton University Medical Center and from 1981 to 1989, Horton was a pediatrician at Boystown National Research Hospital. His experience also includes three years as a pediatrician with the Craven County Health Department under the National Health Service Corps and two years as director of general ambulatory pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Horton has also served in several academic positions, including adjunct professor for the San Diego State University School of Public Health, faculty pediatrician for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, assistant professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the Creighton University School of Medicine and assistant professor for the University of Nebraska School of Medicine.
In addition, he is an active member of the medical and public health communities, serving as a member of many boards, committees and commissions including the Orange County Health Care Agency Executive Team, the Children's Services Coordination Committee, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Board of the American Lung Association of Orange County, the Environmental Health Tracking Project, the Orange County Children and Families Commission Technical Advisory Committee and the National Association of County and City Health Officials Tobacco and Chronic Disease Advisory and Environmental Health Committees. Horton also serves on the board of the Orange County Health Needs Assessment Community Partners and co-chairs the Children's Healthcare Initiative.
Horton, 61, of La Jolla, earned a Medical Doctorate degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Louis University and holds a Master of Science in public health from the University of North Carolina, School of Public Health. He was an ambulatory pediatrics fellow at the Duke University Medical Center and pediatric resident at Northwestern University's Children's Memorial Hospital. The position of director of CDPH requires Senate confirmation and the position of state public health officer does not require Senate confirmation. The compensation is $222,000. Horton is a Democrat.
Horton will assume the position as director of CDPH on July 1, 2007.
http://www.health.state.ny.us/commissioner/bio/
Richard F. Daines, M.D. was nominated by Governor Eliot Spitzer to be the fourteenth New York State Health Commissioner on January 18, 2007. The nomination was confirmed by the New York State Senate on March 21, 2007.
Prior to becoming Commissioner of Health, Dr. Daines was the President and CEO of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center from January 1, 2002 until January 2007. Previous to joining the Hospital Center as Medical Director in 2000, Dr. Daines served as Senior Vice President for Professional Affairs of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, New York since 1994 and the Medical Director from 1987 to 1999. Dr. Daines received a Bachelor of History degree from Utah State University in 1974 and served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bolivia, 1970-1972. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1978. He served a residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine (1987-1997).
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/commissioner/biography.shtm
David L. Lakey, M.D., serves as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, leading one of the state’s largest agencies with a staff of 11,500 and an annual budget of $2.5 billion. As Commissioner, Dr. Lakey oversees programs such as disease prevention and bioterrorism preparedness, family and community health services, environmental and consumer safety, regulatory programs and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.
Dr. Lakey became Commissioner on January 2, 2007. Prior to becoming Commissioner, Dr. Lakey served as an associate professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Clinical Infectious Disease and medical director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler. He had been a faculty member there since 1998.
At the UT Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness, Dr. Lakey served as associate director for infectious disease and biosecurity. He also chaired a bioterrorism preparedness committee for 34 hospitals in East Texas and led the development of the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas in 2002.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, graduating with high honors from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., and received his medical degree with honors from Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Lakey was a resident in internal medicine and pediatric medicine and completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He is board certified in infectious disease and pediatric infectious disease.
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/statesurgeongeneral.htm
Ana M. Viamonte Ros M.D., MPH, was named Secretary of the Florida Department of Health by Governor Charlie Crist in January of 2007. On July 1, 2007, under new legislation, she officially became Florida's first State Surgeon General. She is the first woman and the first Cuban American to hold this position.
Surgeon General Viamonte Ros is dedicated to advancing the Department of Health's vision of ensuring all Floridians are healthy, safe and well. She is committed to advocating for better healthcare in Florida, making the healthcare system more user-friendly, promoting healthy habits among Florida's youth, preparing the state for any type of disaster, reducing health disparities and leading Floridians to better health by example.
In 1960, her family fled Cuba. Having come from a family of refugees, she understands the struggles of Floridians and is passionate about ensuring public health programs help Floridians achieve a higher quality of life.
Surgeon General Viamonte Ros earned her medical degree in 1983 from the University of Miami School of Medicine, graduating with several awards and honors. She attended residency training in radiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.
In 2005, Surgeon General Viamonte Ros received her Master of Public Health degree (MPH), with a concentration on family and community health, from the Harvard School of Public Health. There, she was also the recipient of the Gareth Green Award for Excellence in Public Health, the highest student award.
She came to DOH from Armor Correctional Health Services, where she worked to organize and monitor the health care delivery services in Florida's correctional institutions, and also oversaw the development of medical discharge programs. In her role, Surgeon General Viamonte Ros traveled with a team of medical professionals to the Dominican Republic to help prevent the spread of HIV among inmates by conducting rapid HIV testing and offering support.
Surgeon General Viamonte Ros remains committed to advancing healthcare delivery systems in public health settings and has volunteered with programs like the Camillus House Homeless Initiative in Miami, the Health through Walls International Health Outreach, and the Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Throughout all her community volunteer projects, she has been a strong advocate for disadvantaged individuals and minority communities.
She has written several articles in the areas of mental health, radiology and family health, in addition to lecturing at numerous health care symposia.
Surgeon General Viamonte Ros is the mother of two grown children.
Learn more about the State Surgeon General's 3P's Tour
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/main/interviews/bios/thurm_bio.asp
Deputy Secretary Kevin Thurm
Kevin L. Thurm
Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
(Clinton Administration)
Kevin L. Thurm became Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on Aug. 30, 1996.
HHS is the federal government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Department includes some 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities, including medical and social science research, preventing outbreak of infectious disease, assuring food and drug safety, Medicare and Medicaid, financial assistance for low-income families, Head Start, substance abuse treatment and prevention and services for older Americans. The Department's budget in Fiscal Year 2000 is $387 billion.
As Deputy Secretary, Thurm works closely with HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala on all major policy and management issues, and he serves as the Department's chief operating officer. Additionally, Thurm chairs the HHS Union-Management Partnership Council, and leads several Departmental initiatives, including the implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act and the National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, and he chairs the Department's Minority Initiatives Steering Committee (the Hispanic Agenda for Action, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative, the Tribal Colleges and Universities Initiative and the Asian American Pacific Islander Initiative). Moreover, Thurm leads the development and implementation of six cross-cutting Secretarial Initiatives.
The Deputy Secretary is also helping to lead some major cross-cutting federal initiatives. He serves as the HHS representative on the President's Management Council. Thurm chaired the Health Care sector of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, leading successful efforts across health-related agencies to ensure all medical facilities and devices were prepared for the January 1, 2000 rollover.
Beginning January 1993, Thurm served as HHS Chief of Staff. In addition to coordinating HHS activities and issues and serving as a principal advisor to Secretary Shalala, Thurm served as the central point of liaison between the Department and the White House. As the Department's Regulatory Policy Officer, Thurm played a key role in setting the Department's regulatory agenda and reviewing all regulations issued by the Secretary.
Thurm, who is a former Rhodes Scholar, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in 1983, B.A./M.A. degree from Oxford University in 1986 and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1989.
From 1989-1991, he was an associate with the New York Law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel. He also worked as a legislative assistant in the Massachusetts state legislature in 1983-84.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980401d.html
HHS Chief of Staff Mary Beth Donahue
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343
HHS SECRETARY APPOINTS NEW CHIEF OF STAFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has announced the appointment of Mary Beth Donahue, 32, to be chief of staff, serving as a principal advisor to the Secretary on all major policy and management issues and initiatives.
In addition to coordinating HHS activities and issues, Donahue serves as the central point of liaison between the Department and the White House.
HHS is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.
The department administers more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities which include biomedical research, food and drug safety, Medicare, Medicaid, public health, Head Start, and many other critical federal responsibilities. For fiscal year 1998, the department's budget is more than $359 billion.
"I am pleased to appoint someone to the post of chief of staff who is so knowledgeable about HHS' operations, as well as the responsibilities and challenges of the post. I believe that Mary Beth will be a very capable chief of staff," Secretary Shalala said.
Donahue had served HHS as deputy chief of staff since June 1995, overseeing operations and administrative functions of the chief of staff's office, including providing leadership and direction within HHS on issues that impacted the White House. She also oversaw several units within the Immediate Office of the Secretary. Donahue joined HHS in April 1993 working for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation.
Donahue served on the 1992 Clinton-Gore Presidential Campaign and Transition as director of scheduling for Tipper Gore. She has also worked for the Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Boston Private Industry Council. Donahue began her career working as an executive assistant to Governor Michael Dukakis from 1987 to 1989.
A graduate of the Senior Managers in Government Program of Harvard University in 1997, Donahue also received a M.P.P. from Georgetown University in 1992 and a B.A. from Boston College in 1987.
A native of Holden, Mass., Donahue resides in Washington, D.C.
http://www.atp.nist.gov/ehealth/cary.htm
Margaret Cary, MD MBA MPH for NIST
Margaret Cary is President of Boundroids, Inc., a consultancy specializing in strategy for web-based healthcare technology companies and physician organizations, and a member of the Leapfrog Group's Incentives and Rewards Lily Pad. She was recently Chief Medical Officer of the Colorado Business Group on Health (CBGH) and the physician representative and speaker for the CBGH Leapfrog Group rollout. Her areas of specialty include patient safety, patient information, healthcare quality, physician relationships and healthcare leadership. She coauthored a definitive text in telemedicine and telehealth, Telemedicine and Telehealth: Principles, Policies, Performance and Pitfalls (Springer).
She holds a faculty position at the University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine and is a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business at CU-Denver. She is chair of the Dean's Policy Advisory Council for the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, a member of the CU Technology Transfer External Advisory Board, the Executive Advisory Board for the Center for Health Administration at the Graduate School of Business at CU-Denver, the Advisory Board for the Global Health Initiative at CU, and the Board of Directors for the California Health Collaborative.
She is the former Regional Director for the US Department of Health and Human Services where she developed health and social care policy and implemented programs for six states, and managed 350 employees in the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS, formerly HCFA), the US Public Health Service, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Administration on Aging, the Administration for Children and Families and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She was a member of several cabinet level committees including women's health, managed care, and infant mortality. She was a member of the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer and advised HHS on healthcare information technology/ telehealth recommendations. While at HHS she was given the Colorado BioMedical Venture Center Award for improving communications between biomedical companies and the FDA and Secretary Shalala's Award for Distinguished Service.
Additional posts include Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Vox Medica, a $200 million health communications company with marketing, advertising, education and public relations agencies and Vice President of a startup medical device company with innovative technology in diagnosing and treating breast cancer.
Margaret Cary was a member of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Health Care Technologies at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a specialist advisor for Military Health Services (MHS2025), which submitted recommendations for redesigning the Military's healthcare system for 2025, and a member of Micromedex's Strategic Advisory Board and the Governor's Task Force on the Columbine High School Tragedy. From 1988-1994 she was a member of the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners.
She is a member of the Denver Committee on Foreign Relations, Women's Forum of Colorado, American Academy of Family Practice, American Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians, American College of Physician Executives, American Public Health Association, American Telemedicine Association, Health Information and Management Systems Society, and National Association of Science Writers.
Margaret Cary has spoken extensively on healthcare technology implementation, healthcare communications strategies, the changing physician-patient relationship, healthcare quality, leadership and management, women's health, and patients as partners.
[Hopefully Anonymous: I checked out the 10 HHS Regional Directors from the Clinton administration. I probably missed some late entrants or early exits, but overall they're an unimpressive bunch, in my opinion (except for Margaret Cary). If they were stronger candidates I think they'd also be part of the pool of more clearly competent technocrat alternatives to Daschle. Jay Inslee is possibly one to add to the list (I'm a bit iffy on him because he seems to have failed to distinguish himself intellectually beyond becoming a lawyer).]
http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/manual/1998/177653tx_xxx-39.txt
Regional Offices The 10 HHS Regional Directors are the Secretary's
representatives in direct, official dealings with State and local
government organizations. They provide a central focus in each region
for departmental relations with Congress and promote general
understanding of Department programs, policies, and objectives. They
also advise the Secretary on the potential effects of decisions.
Regional Offices--Department of Health and Human Services
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address (Areas Served) Director Telephone
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlanta, GA, Rm. 1515, 101 Patricia Ford-Roegner..... 404-562-7888
Marietta Twr., 30323 (AL,
FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN).
Boston, MA, Rm. 2100, Judith Kurland............ 617-565-1500
Government Ctr., 02203 (CT,
MA, ME, NH, RI, VT).
Chicago, IL, 23d Fl., 105 W. Hannah Rosenthal.......... 312-353-5160
Adams St., 60603 (IL, IN,
MI, OH, WI).
Dallas, TX, Suite 1124-ORD, Patricia Montoya.......... 214-767-3301
1301 Young St., 75202-4348
(AR, LA, NM, OK, TX).
Denver, CO, Rm. 1076, 1961 *Margaret Cary............. 303-844-3372
Stout St., 80294-3538 (CO,
MT, ND, SD, UT, WY).
Kansas City, MO, Rm. 210, Kathleen Steele........... 816-426-2821
601 E. 12th St., 64106 (IA,
KS, MO, NE).
New York, NY, Rm. 3835, 26 Allison E. Greene......... 212-264-4600
Federal Plz., 10278 (NJ,
NY, PR, VI).
Philadelphia, PA, Rm. 11480, Lynn Yeakel............... 215-596-6492
3535 Market St., 19104 (DC,
DE, MD, PA, VA, WV).
[[Page 274]]
San Francisco, CA, Rm. 431, Grantland Johnson......... 415-437-8500
50 United Nations Plz.,
94102 (AS, AZ, CA, GU, HI,
NV).
Seattle, WA, Rm. 911F, 2201 *Jay Inslee................ 206-615-2010
6th Ave., 98121 (AK, ID,
OR, WA).
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