Maryland’s Secretary of Health, Laura Herrera Scott, will leave the post she has held since the start of the Moore administration to make way for Meena Seshamani, who was until recently assistant administrator at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid .
The Governor’s office said Thursday that Herrera Scott, who has been secretary since January 2023, will remain until the end of this month, when she will be temporarily succeeded by the assistant secretary for the financing of health care Ryan Moran. Seshamani will take over on April 8, pending the Senate approval of his appointment.
The departure of Herrera Scott intervenes while her agency is at the center of a budgetary storm, with a reduction of $ 200 million to the development of administration disorders among the largest cuts while the state has trouble Fill a difference of $ 3 billion in the budget for the 2026 fiscal year. This proposal triggered emotional rallies of members of the disabled people as well as by declines of the legislators.
The department last spring also announced that it had underestimated Medicaid expenses of $ 236 million, sending legislators who rush to find funds during the last month of the legislative session. And Herrera Scott fell under fire In December for his treatment of complaints to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, a high security hospital which was riddled with complaints of mistreatment of patients and violence.
Herrera Scott told legislators in December that the previous staff “invented” it “on the conditions of Perkins, where there had been years of negligence and mismanagement reports. She told a committee that she had adopted “a very broken health agency”.
But by announcing the change of leadership on Thursday, Governor Wes Moore (D) said that Herrera Scott “threw a solid base in the Ministry of Health of Maryland in the past two years and should be congratulated for her service. My friend And veteran colleague has made this administration and its proud state.
Herrera Scott was secretary while the department worked to keep people insured in the post-paidmal “taking place” of Medicaid, and she worked to make Maryland the first state to be associated with federal officials on the Ahead model, Who aims to control health care costs while improving results, said the Governor’s office.
Moore has been effusive in his praise for Seshamani, however, who, according to him, is “among the best health leaders in the country – with an extraordinary career covering expertise in public service, in medical practice, economics, university university and in plea ”.
“It has rendered the health system of our country more equitable, more affordable and more accessible to all – including our most vulnerable, from families of poverty to disabled communities,” Moore said in a statement prepared on change. “We thank her for raising her hand for playing this new role.”
Seshamani is a surgeon formed in Hopkins who was a head and neck surgeon at the Medestar Georgetown university hospital, and she has a doctorate. In Oxford economy, according to the Governor’s office. It is an old executive at Medstar.
As an assistant administrator of the CMS, said the Governor’s office, she is recognized for helping to develop the Medicare Medication Price Trading Program and to work to allow Medicare to provide holistic care and increased support to people with disabilities.
It would start on April 8 – the day after the end of the legislative session and decisions on the budget for the financial year 2026 will have been made, including unpopular DDA cuts.
Seshamani could serve as an interim appointment until the Legislative Assembly met in 2026 and could consider his appointment, but senator Clarence Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel) said he expects the Name of SESHAMANI at the Senate Committee of appointments for execution for the approval of this session for approval.
Lam, who chairs the committee acknowledged that a confirmation audience and a vote so far before a start date would be “unusual”. While Seshamani would dodge the budgetary debate with a date of start of April 8, Lam said that she would probably be confronted with questions about her vision for the department to move forward if it had an audience this session.
The Maryland Developmental Disability Coalition declared Thursday in a statement that the proposed cuts had “created an unprecedented challenge” for Marylanders with disabilities for developing their families and community suppliers. The press release also said that the coalition is looking forward to working with Seshamani when it takes the position.
“We keep the hope that the secretary, the Dre Laura Herrera Scott, and the future acting secretary, Dr. Ryan Moran, will work with our community and the General Assembly of Maryland to adopt a budget that protects and preserves rights and The opportunities for people with developmental disorders across Maryland, ”said the declaration.
The departure of Herrara Scott marks the third change in Moore’s office this year – and the installation of a second former official of the Biden administration.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that the Maryland trade secretary Kevin Anderson would leave the agency he has led since the first days of the Moore administration. Harry Coker Jr., a former senior federal official, intelligence officer and retired naval commander. Anderson will become a governor’s economic development advisor.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Social Services Department confirmed in Maryland. A reason for the absence and chronology of his return was not provided.
– This story was updated Thursday at 6 p.m. with the confirmation of the administration of change and additional details.