Dr. Peggy Hamberg’s appointment at FDA has been well received in town (we had better ideas); no word yet on the all-important CMS job, given Medicare’s status as the means for much of the reform process; and hearings for Governor Sebelius have yet to be set up.

I still hope our own Past President Tim Garson is in the mix for Surgeon General or Assistant Secretary for Health after Gupta pulled out. Tim may not agree with me on promoting this, given his dedication to his wonderful current position as Health Provost at U of VA, but he’d be great there.

Also, last week HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) established an Office of Recovery Act Coordination, which will coordinate all ARRA (Stimulus) implementation efforts and serve as the primary liaison to the Office of Management and Budget. Dennis Williams, former Deputy Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration has been selected to oversee the new office as Deputy Assistant Secretary. Dennis is due to have lots of new friends, us included!