Palm, Meyers and Kowalik join MHCP Operations Council
The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership’s Operations Council was recently joined by Andrea Palm, Secretary-designee for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Mary Jo Meyers, Milwaukee County’s Director of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Jeanette Kowalik, Commissioner of Health for the City of Milwaukee.
The Operations Council provides input and oversight to the Partnership’s annual operating budget, plan priorities initiatives and outcomes. Its members include senior executives of the four health systems’ Milwaukee-based operations, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the CEOs of the five Federally Qualified Health Centers, and the Directors of the State, County and City health agencies.
Wisconsin DHS Secretary-designee, Andrea Palm, most recently served as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Obama, where she oversaw the public health and human services agencies, encompassing more than 60,000 staff. She also served as the Chief of Staff for HHS from 2013-14. Her executive career spans more than two decades, with key leadership positions for the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Congressman Robert Matsui. She was a Senior Advisor at the White House Domestic Policy Council during the implementation and rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Palm received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a graduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
As DHHS Director, Mary Jo Meyers MS, oversees a $330 million organization operating mental health, housing, energy assistance, disabilities and youth justice programs. Most recently, she served as the director of Children’s Mental Health Services and Wraparound Milwaukee for the Milwaukee County DHHS Behavioral Health Division. Ms. Meyers is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Allied Health and holds a Masters’ of Science in Community Mental Health from Trinity College of Vermont.
Jeanette Kowalik PhD, MPH, MCHES, was named the City’s Commissioner of Health in September 2018. She began her career as an intern at the Milwaukee Health Department and has also worked for the Wauwatosa Health Department, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Dr. Kowalik received her Master of Public Health degree from Northern Illinois University and completed her Doctorate in Health Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.