2009-01-14

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that a number of top-level interim or acting positions will take effect on January 20 and last until the new Obama Administration appoints individuals to various leadership positions and the Senate confirms them.

Assistant Secretary Charles Johnson will replace current Secretary Michael Leavitt and will lead HHS until Secretary-designate Tom Daschle is confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office. Some of the other top-level acting positions announced by HHS include:

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be headed by its current Chief Scientist and Principal Deputy Commissioner Frank Torti, MD, MPH, replacing current FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, who will step down prior to January 20;
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be headed by Chief Operating Officer Charlene Frizzera, and acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems will step down;
• The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) will be led by Chief Operating Officer William Gimson, and current Director Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, will leave office;
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will continue to be led by Raynard Kington, MD, PhD, who has been Acting Director at NIH since the departure of Elias Zerhouni, MD, as Director at the end of October;
• The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) will continue to be headed by Director Carolyn Clancy, MD; and
• The Office of the Surgeon General will continue to be held in an acting capacity by Steven Galson, MD, MPH.

Meanwhile, Secretary-designate Daschle has announced that William Corr will be nominated to become Deputy Secretary at HHS. Corr is currently the Executive Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a privately funded anti-smoking group. Corr formerly served as chief counsel in Daschle’s Senate office and, during the Clinton Administration, served as chief of staff to then-HHS Secretary Donna Shalala.

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