Media Contact: Kathy Fackelmann, [email protected], 202-994-8354
WASHINGTON, DC (March 17, 2015)—Today Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University announced the merger of the Department of Health Policy with the Department of Health Services Management and Leadership to create a new Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM). The unified department will maximize the faculty’s ability to conduct interdisciplinary research as well as provide a cutting edge training ground for students, who will become the next generation of leaders in public and private sector health organizations.
“Policy issues are increasingly important to health care managers and management theory and practice plays an equally important role for policymakers, especially now in the era of health reform,” says Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MS, MPH, the Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Milken Institute SPH. “The unified department will accelerate the school’s ability to compete for research funding and create dynamic synergies for faculty and students.”
The Department of Health Policy and Management represents the re-unification of the two departments which separated in 2002 in order to grow and firmly establish their own identities. With the merger, the new department is now well positioned to create leaders of tomorrow who understand the meaning and significance of national health policies; possess the skills to translate policies into the real world and are prepared to make meaningful contributions to public health and health services research. The combined faculty in the merged department consists of experts in health law, health economics, public health, social epidemiology and services financing and management.
The largest of all the departments in Milken Institute School of Public Health, the newly created Department of Health Policy and Management is both a research and practice-oriented community. The combined department offers students accredited Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree programs as well as accredited master’s and doctoral degree programs in health policy, including a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH). The department also includes a field concentration in health policy for the public policy Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program and recruits students who are pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) as a joint degree in combination with other professional degrees such as law, medicine or nursing.
Paula M. Lantz, PhD, the chair of the former Department of Health Policy, will serve as interim chair of the newly created Department of Health Policy and Management. Milken Institute SPH has launched a national search for a candidate who will become the next chair of the unified department.
The newly created department will continue to offer faculty and students access to influential public and private organizations working on the frontlines of public health. Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation’s capital and is located just miles from the White House and other institutions that drive the national health care agenda. The merged department’s connections and expertise allows faculty and students to contribute to research and start implementing solutions for some of the most pressing issues of the day, particularly those at the intersection of health policy and management.
About Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University:
Established in July 1997 as the School of Public Health and Health Services, Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation’s capital. Today, nearly 1,534 students from almost every U.S. state and more than 45 countries pursue undergraduate, graduate and doctoral-level degrees in public health. The school also offers an online Master of Public Health, MPH@GW, and an online Executive Master of Health Administration, MHA@GW, which allow students to pursue their degree from anywhere in the world.