Former NCDHHS secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen announces new job

Dr. Mandy Cohen, who recently stepped down as secretary at the state Department of Health and Human Services, has announced her next steps.

Cohen, who was North Carolina's guide to the coronavirus pandemic over the past 22 months, will step into the role of CEO at Aledade Care Solutions, Aledade's new health services unit. She will also serve as Aledade’s Executive Vice President.

Cohen will assume her new roles in March 2022, according to a press release.

Founded in 2014, Aledade is a self-described "physician enablement company" that helps health centers and doctors offices better care for their patients and "empowers physicians to succeed financially by keeping people healthy."

In her new positions, Cohen will lead initiatives to support more than 1,000 primary care practices in Aledade’s nationwide network. She will also "lead Aledade’s work to support the large and growing number of patients enrolled in Medicaid programs that are served by Aledade practices and health centers," according to the release.

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Before COVID-19, most North Carolinians likely wouldn't have recognized Cohen on the street. But when the first cases were reported in the state early last year, Cohen began leading press conferences with Gov. Roy Cooper, and she became one of the most recognizable faces of the pandemic in the state.

During the pandemic, Cohen was interviewed by WRAL News and other groups hundreds of times. In the very beginning, she advocated for the first patients diagnosed with COVID-19, calling bullying unacceptable. When masks became the norm and requirements began to take effect, she reminded North Carolinians week after week to practice social distancing and cover their faces.

In May, Cohen threw the first pitch at the Durham Bulls' home opener, their first home game since before the pandemic.

Cohen, an internal medicine physician, graduated from Cornell University and received her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine. She obtained a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine last year.

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She had been with the NCDHHS since 2017.