IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2007 DOH Announces Major Agency Realignment (Washington, DC) Department of Health Director Gregg A. Pane, MD, today announced a major realignment of the agency in an effort to increase administrative efficiency and care coordination and improve quality outcomes for DC residents. The realignment will reduce the number of Administrations from 11 to 7, reallocate staff to a new Procurement and Grants Management function, and create a new focus on performance accountability and community visibility that is consistent with the Mayors’ public health goals. “We are realigning the agency to address the multilateral issues that may face our individual clients, and to better coordinate and integrate service delivery for District residents,” said Dr. Pane. The new structure and focus is driven by the urgent need to effectively address and manage health disparities and major health issues such as HIV, substance abuse and violence that cut across traditional organizational boundaries. Under the realignment, all facility and health provider regulation functions will be incorporated into the Health Regulation and Licensing Administration. Primary care, prevention, maternal and school health programs will be integrated into the Maternal and Primary Care Administration. The Emergency Health and Medical Services Administration will be combined with the Public Health Laboratory to form the Emergency Preparedness and Response Administration (EPRA). The Medicaid and Health Care Safety Net health plans will be integrated within the Medical Assistance Administration. Another important change combines the Bureau of Epidemiology and Health Risk Assessments with the State Center for Health Statistics and State Health Planning and Development Agency to create a Center for Policy, Planning and Epidemiology. “The Center will allow us to have all of our data under one roof and will assist us in turning information into insight, while providing for data-driven decision making,” said Dr. Pane. A reconfiguration of administrative staff will create new DOH Grants Management and Procurement functions to ensure absolute fiscal integrity, departmental synergy, and outcomes accountability for all grants and contracts. The HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA) and the Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration (APRA), both under new leadership, will focus on administrative execution and quality outcome goals. Dr. Pane said he believes the new structure and focus will better coordinate service delivery, improve quality accountability, and enhance communications and community relations. It will, in particular, focus DOH on the public health goals that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty recently outlined in his 100 Days and Beyond Plan. “I am pleased to see that work is already underway on my vision for making DC a public health model for the nation,” said Mayor Fenty. “The focus on transparency and accountability is particularly noteworthy, and speaks to our quest to ensure affordable, quality healthcare to all our residents.”