Dr. Sejal Hathi was introduced as the brand new director for the Oregon Well being Authority Monday.
Hathi, who was appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek, has greater than a decade of expertise in drugs well being coverage and training. Hathi has as New Jersey’s deputy well being commissioner for public well being providers and designated state well being officer. She additionally spent for 2 years because the White Home’s Senior Coverage Advisor for Public Well being.
Hathi says she plans to make use of that earlier expertise to bolster what the OHA does and mannequin that for the remainder of the nation.
“I consider no different state and its staff, its management, its politics, its very structure is as primed and as properly geared up as Oregon to mannequin how this needs to be accomplished,” Hathi stated.
RELATED: Avian flu enhance anticipated throughout migration; Don’t deal with sick, lifeless waterfowl
RELATED: Daylight saving 2023: Right here’s what a sleep professional says concerning the time change
Right here is the total announcement of Hathi’s appointment from Gov. Kotek’s workplace:
Salem, OR — Right now, Governor Tina Kotek introduced that she has appointed Dr. Sejal Hathi because the director of the Oregon Well being Authority. Incoming Director Hathi brings over a decade of expertise in drugs, well being coverage and training, and non-profit improvement. Her first day is January 16.
“The Oregon Well being Authority has a important position in guaranteeing equitable entry to well being care in Oregon and for stewarding our behavioral and public well being programs in each a part of the state,” Governor Kotek stated. “This work should be carried out with transparency, accountability, urgency, and an infallible dedication to customer support. Dr. Hathi brings a uncommon mixture of extraordinary {qualifications} to this position – from frontline expertise as a doctor, to shaping coverage within the White Home, to founding two non-profits targeted on ladies and ladies management. I’m grateful she is bringing her expertise and expertise to serve Oregonians.”
Earlier than becoming a member of the Oregon Well being Authority, Dr. Hathi served as New Jersey’s deputy well being commissioner for public well being providers and designated state well being officer. Previous to that, she served for 2 years because the White Home’s Senior Coverage Advisor for Public Well being, the place she led varied Administration priorities for the Home Coverage Council. A board-certified attending doctor, she additionally held joint college appointments as an assistant professor of drugs on the Johns Hopkins Faculty of Medication and the Bloomberg Faculty of Public Well being.
“I’m each excited and humbled to be part of the ground-breaking advances in well being care entry which can be occurring in Oregon,” Dr. Hathi stated. “On the nationwide degree, all eyes are on Oregon and the steps this state is taking to develop well being protection and sort out root trigger points, such because the social determinants of well being. I look ahead to persevering with this proud custom and dealing with the staff to make each neighborhood within the state a more healthy place to stay.”
Dr. Hathi cared for COVID-19 sufferers as a resident doctor at Massachusetts Common Hospital and a medical fellow on college at Harvard Medical Faculty, the place she additionally launched and led a voter training and mobilization initiative for suppliers and their sufferers. She has served on quite a few nationwide boards associated to public service and public well being. Right now, she maintains a task as a founding board member of Indiaspora. Dr. Hathi has spoken at TEDWomen, the World Well being Meeting, and the United Nations, amongst different venues.
Early in her profession, Dr. Hathi based and led two, award-winning social enterprises, every constructing neighborhood and advancing ladies’s and ladies’ management around the globe. In 2013, Dr. Hathi was appointed as 1 of 9 public well being leaders to UN Secretary-Common Ban Ki-moon’s professional advisory group on ladies’s & youngsters’s well being, charged with evaluating and reporting international progress in opposition to maternal and little one mortality. Dr. Hathi holds a B.S. with honors from Yale College and an M.D./M.B.A. from Stanford College.
The Governor and her workers thank Interim Director Dave Baden for his service in the course of the seek for a everlasting director. Baden will proceed his work at OHA, and can serve in a deputy director position, overseeing main applications and coverage initiatives. Kris Kautz will proceed as a deputy director overseeing company operations.