Mandy Cohen, M.D., is stepping down from her position leading North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services after directing the agency’s launch of Medicaid managed care.
Cohen, who helmed NCDHHS for five years, led the development of an approach to whole-person care, including the integration of physical and mental health and using Medicaid to address drivers of health such as housing, transportation, and employment.
In addition, North Carolina implemented a statewide coordinated care network, NCCARE360, to electronically connect those with identified needs to community resources.
This private-public partnership has been a key feature of the state's COVID response and backbone to the Health Opportunities pilot authorized under North Carolina’s 1115 Medicaid waiver. “To build a healthier North Carolina, we must build a system of health that unites healthcare and human services,” said Cohen, when it was announced in 2019. “NCCARE360 is a scalable, coordinated solution that makes it easier for providers, insurers and community organizations to connect people with the resources they need to be healthy and delivers value for all.”
Under Cohen’s leadership, NCDHHS also hired its first chief health equity officer and has focused on reducing disparities in opportunity and outcomes for historically marginalized populations, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The release also noted that North Carolina has been a model for best practices to provide equitable access to COVID-19 testing and support to families so that they could safely quarantine and isolate; been recognized as best in the nation for data quality for vaccinations by race and ethnicity; and eliminated a vaccination gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic North Carolinians and narrowed the gap for Black/African American communities.
Cohen was lauded for her outstanding leadership during the COVID crisis. In September of 2020, she was awarded the Leadership in Public Health Practice Award from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was named the 2020 Tar Heel of the Year by the Raleigh News and Observer newspaper and was also elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021. (She was also reported to be a top candidate for the CMS administrator position in the Biden Administration that went to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.)
Gov. Roy Cooper has appointed Kody Kinsley, current NCDHHS Chief Deputy Secretary for Health and lead for COVID operations, to succeed her beginning Jan. 1. Kinsley will be the first openly gay cabinet Secretary in North Carolina history.
Cohen plans to spend more time with her family while exploring new opportunities to carry on her work improving the health and well-being of communities.
“Mandy Cohen has shown extraordinary leadership during her tenure and she has worked every day during this pandemic to help keep North Carolinians healthy and safe,” said Cooper, in a statement. “We are stronger because of her efforts and I am enormously grateful for her service. She has built a remarkable team of talented people including Kody Kinsley, and I know he will continue the strong legacy of competence, effectiveness and efficiency as he takes over as Secretary.”
