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Catherine A. Hess is
now an independent health policy consultant in Washington,
DC. With over twenty years of state and national experience,
Ms. Hess specializes in strategic analysis, planning, qualitative
research, writing and program consultation, especially in
the field of maternal and child health. During 2002-2003,
her consulting has included work with the federal Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Lewin Group consulting
firm, the MCH programs in Louisiana and the District of Columbia,
and AMCHP. Ms. Hess is a visiting lecturer at both Johns
Hopkins and George Washington University's Schools of Public
Health. She serves on the MCH Research Grants Review Committee,
which is appointed by the Secretary of the federal Department
of Health and Human Services.
Until 2002, Ms. Hess was the first Executive Director of
the national Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
(AMCHP), a position she held for fourteen years. Under her
leadership, the organization grew to a 28 member staff and
a $4 million budget. She led inititation and implementation
of a number of grants and cooperative agreements with the
federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau as well as the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and foundations including
the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Annie E. Casey
Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund. With such support,
AMCHP issued numerous reports, briefs and fact sheets containing
information, analyses and recommendations regarding women's,
children's and family health. Grants also supported development
of peer-to-peer assistance programs such as New Director
Orientation and Mentoring and Action Learning Labs. AMCHP
also worked in coalition to advocate with Congress and the
Administration on issues including budget and health and
welfare reform. Ms. Hess authored many of AMCHP's reports,
spoke frequently on health policy issues, and served on numerous
federal and private sector advisory bodies. AMCHP's and Ms.
Hess' work were recognized by numerous federal awards over
the years, including the first Dr. Vince L. Hutchins Partnership
Award given to Ms. Hess in 2001.
In the 1980's, Ms. Hess served as Director of the Policy
Office for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's
Division of Family Health Services. While there, she staffed
and wrote the report for the state's Task Force on Prevention
of Infant Mortality which resulted in the country's first
state financed maternity care insurance program, Healthy
Start. Prior to this position, Ms. Hess worked in the fields
of children's mental health, special education and advocacy
services. Ms. Hess holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University
of Rochester (1976) and a Master of Social Work (1980) from
the Boston University School of Social Work.
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