It is with great sadness that the GWSPH’s Department of Health Policy and Management shares that our friend and colleague, Charlene Frizzera, has passed away.
Charlene was a force. She spent three decades serving at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and then ran her own firm for close to 15 years. At different times during her span at CMS, Charlene was in various leadership roles, including as the Acting Administrator, COO, Deputy Director for Medicaid and State Operations, as well as the Regional Administrator of the Philadelphia Regional Office. Charlene advised health care providers on health care reform and private equity/venture capital firms on investments at the firm she founded, CF Health Advisors. Charlene was also a senior advisor at Leavitt Partners and served on several health care boards of directors.
As a result of her vast experience, Charlene’s knowledge and influence were unparalleled. She offered both generously to colleagues and students. Charlene taught in HPM as an adjunct instructor since 2019 when she began co-teaching our Medicare and Medicaid Law and Policy graduate course with her dear friend, Carol Kelly. Over the years, Charlene touched the lives of hundreds of our students.
Her co-instructor, Carol Kelly, notes: “Charlene was a true force of nature, blessed with a keen intellect, compassionate heart, and infectious laugh. I am honored to have had a front row seat to watch her educate the next generation of healthcare leaders about her favorite public program, Medicaid. She would jump to the blackboard at the front of the room, grab the chalk, and write key facts students absolutely had to remember about Medicaid, and I found later that they did! Professor Frizzera was not a person you would disappoint.”
Jane Thorpe, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic, Student and Faculty Affairs at GWSPH, remembers Charlene this way: “Charlene was truly a remarkable bright light and GWSPH was fortunate to have her as a member of the faculty teaching the next generation of public health professionals. She was an incredible advocate for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries and an inspiring and impactful leader, colleague, teacher, mentor, and dear friend.”
Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and other colleagues. If you would like to share a story or condolences with her family, please send your thoughts to [email protected] – we will be compiling them and sending them to her family.
Charlene Frizzera will be sorely missed.