Dr Sejal Hathi named director of Oregon Health Authority

Governor Tina Kotek has appointed Dr Sejal Hathi to head the Oregon Health Authority effective from January 16. In the role, she will be responsible for ensuring equitable access to health care in Oregon and for stewarding behavioral and public health systems in every part of the state.

Announcing the appointment, the Governor said, “Hathi brings a rare combination of extraordinary qualifications to this role – from frontline experience as a physician, to shaping policy in the White House, to founding two non-profits focused on women and girls leadership. I am grateful she is bringing her experience and talent to serve Oregonians.”

Hathi was named state health officer and deputy health commissioner for public health services in New Jersey prior to joining the Oregon Health Authority. She oversaw several Administration initiatives for the Domestic Policy Council during her two years as the White House’s Senior Policy Advisor for Public Health.

As an attending physician certified by the board, she has served as an assistant professor of medicine at both the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a clinical fellow on faculty at Harvard Medical School and as a resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, she provided care for Covid-19 patients. She also established and oversaw a voter education and mobilization program for medical professionals and their patients.

“I’m both excited and humbled to be a part of the ground-breaking advances in health care access that are happening in Oregon. At the national level, all eyes are on Oregon and the steps this state is taking to expand health coverage and tackle root cause issues, such as the social determinants of health. I look forward to continuing this proud tradition and working with the team to make every community in the state a healthier place to live,” Hathi said in a statement.

Hathi received her B.S. with honors from Yale University and her M.D./M.B.A. from Stanford University, where she was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow and a Harry S. Truman Scholar. Among her many accolades are the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, the World Economic Forum Global Shapers, the Academy of Achievement delegates, Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Shake the World,” Forbes 30 under 30, Glamour’s Amazing Young Women of the Year, and the United States Presidential Scholars. New India Abroad