Obama Nominates Knighted Professor To Head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Roughly a week after winning the battle over health care reform, the Obama administration is set to nominate a Harvard knight to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to Associated Press reports attributed to sources within the administration.

Donald M. Berwick ’68, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005, will be the first permanent chief executive to lead the agency since 2006, when Mark B. McClellan resigned.

Arnold M. Epstein, Berwick’s longtime colleague at the School of Public Health, expressed high praise for Berwick.

Epstein, who chairs the Department of Health Policy and Management, described Berwick as having tremendous experience and said that he believes that Berwick will be very effective. Berwick is “a visionary leader in health policy, a compelling thinker and a wonderful teacher and lecturer,” he said.

Berwick could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Berwick will bring expertise in health care reform to the position, as he received his honorary knighthood for his efforts in improving Britain’s National Health Service under former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He has also garnered extensive recognition for his work on this side of the pond. Berwick was appointed to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry during the Clinton administration. At the same time, he was chair of the Health Services Research Review Study Section of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, now called the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Berwick is also the President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a nonprofit focused on increasing the quality of patient care throughout the world.