DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & MENTAL HYGIENE

SECRETARIES

FORMER SECRETARIES

[photo, John M. Colmers, Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene] JOHN M. COLMERS
Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene, 2007-11

Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, March 6, 2007 to January 11, 2011. Acting Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, January 17, 2007 to March 6, 2007. Member, Task Force on Minority Participation in the Environmental Community, 2007. Chair, Task Force on Health Care Access and Reimbursement, 2007-08. Member, Task Force to Study the Developmental Disabilities Administration Rate-Payment Systems, 2007-08; Task Force to Study Group-Home Education and Placement Practices, 2007-08; Maryland Advisory Council for New Americans, 2007-08; Task Force to Study the Feasibility of Developing Urban Senior Care Communities in Baltimore City, 2007-08; Task Force to Study State Assistance to Veterans, 2007-08; Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State's Water Resources (2005), 2007-08; Task Force to Study Issues Related to Students Subject to Multiple Suspensions, 2008; Statewide Empowerment Zones for Seniors Commission, 2007-09; Delinquency Prevention and Diversion Services Task Force, 2007-09.

John M. Colmers, Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene, February 2007. Photo by Mark Odell.

Member, Governor's Executive Council, 2007-11; Children's Cabinet, 2007-11; Smart Growth Subcabinet, 2010-11. Chair, State Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council, 2007-11; Mental Health Transformation Working Group, 2007-11. Member, Interagency Committee on Aging Services, 2007-11; Governor's Intergovernmental Commission for Agriculture, 2007-11; Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Board, 2007-11; Appalachian States Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission, 2007-11; Asbestos Oversight Committee, 2007-11; State Child Fatality Review Team, 2007-11; Interagency Disabilities Board, 2007-11; State Emergency Medical Services Board, 2007-11; Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities, 2007-11; Governor's Family Violence Council (formerly Governor's Council on Family Violence Prevention), 2007-11; Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, 2007-11; Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2007-11; State Coordinating Committee for Human Services Transportation, 2007-11; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 2007-11; Oversight Committee on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities, 2007-11; Pesticide Advisory Committee, 2007-11; Rural Maryland Council, 2007-11; Maryland School-Based Health Center Policy Advisory Council, 2007-11; Task Force to Review Physician Shortages in Rural Areas, 2008-09; Advisory Council on Prescription Drug Monitoring, 2008-10; Task Force to Study the Procurement of Health and Social Services by State Agencies, 2008-10. Board of Directors, Maryland Health Insurance Plan, 2008-11. Vice-Chair, Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council, 2008-11. Member, Commission to Study the Impact of Immigrants in Maryland, 2008-11; Task Force to Study Financial Matters Relating to Long-Term Care Facilities, 2008-11; Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board, 2008-11. Chair, Maryland State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, 2008-11 (member, 2007-11). Member, Swine Flu Medical Advisory Board, 2009-10; Task Force on Prisoner Re-entry, 2009-11; Maryland Commission on Suicide Prevention, 2009-11. Co-Chair, Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council, 2010. Member, Maryland Communities for a Lifetime Commission, 2010-11; Maryland Green Purchasing Committee, 2010-11; Health and Human Services Referral Board, 2010-11; Task Force to Study the Procurement of Health, Education, and Social Services by State Agencies, 2010-11; Sexual Offender Advisory Board, 2010-11; Governor’s Warrior to Worker Council, 2010-11.

Member, Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council, 2011-15. Chair, State Health Services Cost Review Commission, 2011-16. Member, Joint Legislative and Executive Committee on Health Benefit Exchange Financing, 2012.

Executive Director, State Health Services Cost Review Commission, 1987-93 (chief, methodology dept., and deputy director, 1981-87). Executive Director, Maryland Health Care Access and Cost Commission, 1993-99. Executive Director, Maryland Health Care Commission, 1999-2000.

Born in Stamford, Connecticut, September 26, 1953. The Johns Hopkins University, B.A. (political science & psychology), 1975; University of North Carolina, M.P.H. (public health administration), 1977; The Johns Hopkins University, (health economics), 1979-82. Chair, Reforming States Group, 1998-2000 (member, 1994-98; national bipartisan healthcare reform group). Member, Committee on the National Quality Report on Health Care Delivery, Institute of Medicine, 2000. Co-Chair, Steering Committee on Serious, Reportable Events, The National Quality Forum, 2000-01. Senior Program Officer, Milbank Memorial Fund, 2000-07. Contributing editor, American Journal of Public Health, 2001-. Chair, Board of Directors, CareFirst of Maryland, Inc., 2004-07. Maryland Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellow, Center for Dispute Resolution, University of Maryland School of Law, 2007. Chair, Board of Directors, Academy Health, 2009- (member, 2004-; executive committee; treasurer). Vice-President for Health Care Transformation and Strategic Planning, Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2011-. Board of Directors, Milbank Memorial Fund, 2013-. Recognized for outstanding health care leadership, Sheppard Pratt Health System, 2009. Speaker's Medallion, House of Delegates, 2013.

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