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April 10, 2015 OHA Director's messages on the web
To: All OHA employees
From: Lynne Saxton, Director

Building a strong foundation

To the OHA team:

Last month I shared plans for our agency restructure that will help us continue to build a strong foundation of health for all Oregonians. In our effort to better align ourselves with the coordinated care model and to help us accomplish the best health outcomes, our resources are grouped into seven functional areas. Each area will have its own work portfolio with attendant accountability.

Public Health, led by Lillian Shirley, will welcome health licensing back into its fold. Our tribal liaison Jason Yarmer and the Office of Equity and Inclusion, led by Leann Johnson, will continue to report to the OHA director with focused accountability for improving client outcomes.

Chief Operating Officer Suzanne Hoffman will oversee the Office of Information Services, human resources, the chief financial officer, performance management, legal and OHA/DHS shared services.

Legislative affairs, local government relations and communications (internal and external) will combine into one area: External Affairs. The director of external affairs position will be posted internally and externally this month.

The Health Policy and Analytics area, led by Leslie Clement, will oversee analytics, the Office of Health Information Technology, the chief medical officer, the chief dental officer, PEBB and OEBB, the Transformation Center, the Medicaid director and quality improvement.

Addictions and Mental Health will be restructured, with client-specific services moved to the portfolio of the chief health systems officer. A separate division, Population Behavioral Health, led by Pam Martin, will cover prevention and treatment, the Behavioral Health Home and Excellence in Mental Health demonstration projects, our work with opioid use, and Oregon State Hospital.

Perhaps the most significant advancement in terms of health system transformation will be combining our Health Systems into one aligned area including the community partnership team; customer support center; innovator agents; mental health residential and youth hospital services (AMH); mental, physical and dental services; service integration/results; medical assistance programs (MAP); consumer affairs (MAP); compliance (AMH/MAP); contracts (AMH/MAP); licensing (AMH/MAP); and rates. This division will be led by the chief health systems officer; that position was posted this week.

Linda Hammond, our director of strategic initiatives, will implement Lean leadership and processes in each division, beginning with Health Systems. This is an opportunity for all of us to examine the scope of our work, and required results and outcomes. We can all look forward to a streamlined agency that will support Oregonians and deliver the triple aim of better health, better health care and lower costs.

Thank you,
Lynne

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OHA on the web