In an email sent to staff at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services this morning, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that Karen DeSalvo, who currently serves as the City of New Orleans Health Commissioner and Senior Health Policy Advisor to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, will be the next National Coordinator for Health IT.
DeSalvo replaces Farzad Mostashari, who resigned from ONC in October after having served as National Coordinator since April 2011. She will begin serving in her new role on Monday, January 13.
"During her tenure, Dr. DeSalvo has been at the forefront of efforts to modernize the New Orleans healthcare system," Sebelius said in the email. "Following Hurricane Katrina, for example, she led projects to increase access to care by augmenting the city's neighborhood-based medical homes for low income, uninsured and other vulnerable populations in the New Orleans area."
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