WILMINGTON, Del - Secretary Dr. Kara Odam Walker will leave her role as head of the Delaware Department of Health and Human Social Services (DHSS). Governor John Carney announced in a Tuesday night statement. Dr. Walker plans to join Nemours’ National Office of Policy and Prevention in Washington, D.C. "I witnessed our team come together as never before and figure out new ways of meeting the health and social service needs of the people we are sworn to serve," Dr. Walker said. "I am grateful to the Governor’s office, our fellow state agencies, the legislators, community partners and residents of Delaware for the faith they had in me and our entire Department." Carney plans to nominate current Deputy DHSS Secretary Molly Magarik to serve as the next Secretary of the department. “Molly is a proven leader, a problem solver, and a committed public servant who has been second-in-command at DHSS for the last three and a half years,” said Governor Carney. "As we continue to fight COVID-19, I’m confident Molly will be able to lead this department without missing a beat, while continuing our work to make Delaware a stronger and healthier state." Carney credits Dr. Walker for the following accomplishments since she took over DHSS in February 2017:
- Develop first-in-the-nation health care spending and quality benchmarks in Delaware while slowing the growth rate of health care spending;
- Establish a reinsurance program in Delaware that reduced premiums by up to 19% on the individual insurance market in its first year and increased the number of people with coverage;
- Fund a reduction in a long-standing wait list for services among seniors and adults with physical disabilities;
- Create new Medicaid managed care contracts that embed paying for value in health care instead of volume and include quality metrics;
- Hire former Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings to head the Group Violence Intervention program;
- Establish the Delaware Integrated Data System to support individuals and families in Wilmington impacted by violence;
- Expand the Community Partner Support Unit to address social service needs for individuals and families in the communities in which the unit serves;
- Reduce the barriers to individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorder, including launching an online treatment referral system;
- Launch the My Healthy Community web portal, encouraging communities to assess the overall health of their residents for chronic diseases, mental illness and substance use, maternal and child health, and now COVID-19;
- Train more than 1,000 front-line employees in a trauma-informed approach;
- Raise the age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 and make healthy beverages the default drink in kids’ meals; and
- Expand Medicaid dental coverage to adults, including individuals with disabilities.
