Government
New HRSA chief to oversee community health centers
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 2, 2009
President Obama on Feb. 20 appointed Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, to be administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, a division of the Dept. of Health and Human Services. HRSA provides funding to more than 1,100 community health centers and rural health care centers, oversees the National Health Service Corps and administers the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, among other duties.
Wakefield has been the associate dean for rural health and director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, N.D. She became the center's director in November 2001.
Previously, Wakefield was director of the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics at George Mason University in Virginia, and she was chief of staff to Sens. Kent Conrad (D, N.D.) and Quentin Burdick (D, N.D.). She also was a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/03/02/gvbf0302.htm.