President Joe Biden formally announced Friday his intent to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cohen, who is an internal medicine physician and led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, will be replacing Dr. Rochelle Walensky. The White House announced in May that Walensky would be stepping down after serving two years in the administration and overseeing the COVID-19 response.
“As Secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Cohen developed innovative and nationally recognized programs that improved the health and lives of families across the state. Her leadership through the COVID-19 crisis drew bipartisan praise, as did her successful transformation of North Carolina’s Medicaid program and pivotal role in the bipartisan passage of Medicaid expansion. Before serving in North Carolina, Dr. Cohen held senior roles at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services where she helped implement Affordable Care Act programs, including expanding insurance coverage and protections,” Biden began in a statement.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 03: Dr. Mandy Cohen, COO and chief of staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, attends aÊHouse Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill November 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee was hearing testimony on the State of The Affordable Care Act’s Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“Dr. Cohen has been recognized by leaders from both parties for her ability to find common ground and put complex policy into action. I look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nation’s finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency,” the president added. (RELATED: Despite Evidence, Walensky Refuses To Call Omicron ‘Mild’ In Interview With Fox’s Bret Baier)
Cohen currently serves as the executive vice president at Aledade and is the CEO of Aledade Care Solution, and previously was the COO and chief of staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a White House readout.