This week, Dr. Dorothy Fink, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, issued a five-step memo to all chief operating officer and staff divisions to limit outgoing communications through February 1.
Fink, deputy assistant secretary for women’s health and director of the Office of Women’s Health, will head the top federal health agency as Robert Kennedy awaits his nomination hearing, Planned for next week.
Board certified in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics, she previously worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and on the faculty of Cornell University.
The HHS Communications Cessation requires divisions within it—such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Assistant Secretary for Policy/Office of Technology and 19 other substituents—to refrain from submitting any document intended for publication to the Office of the Federal Register until it has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee, in accordance with note Originally reported Tuesday by National Public Radio.
“Please note that the Office of the Executive Secretary has withdrawn from OFR all documents that have not been published in the Federal Register to permit such review and approval,” Fink noted in the memo.
Additionally, the GAG extends the issuance of regulations, guidance, notices, grant announcements, public communications including social media, press releases, and more until review and approval. There is also a ban on speaking engagements until the event and materials have been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee and the agency must coordinate with the appointee before issuing official communications to lawmakers and other public officials.
For any documents or communications required by statute or affecting the agency’s health or environmental, financial, or national security functions, HHS staff must notify the Executive Secretary’s Policy Coordinator.
Fink said they have the opportunity to review any regulations, guidance documents, public documents, and public communications “as the new administration considers its plan for managing federal policy and public communications operations.”
Andrea Fox is a senior editor at Healthcare.
Email: afox@himss.org
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