June 06, 2025
The weekend's calling! But first, it's time for our monthly look at who's working where in the health world.
- If you have tips on people changing jobs, send them here for our next installment.
1 big thing: People moves that caught our eye
Hill moves
Matt Gallivan is now staff director for Senate HELP Committee Republicans. He previously was a principal at Leavitt Partners.
Christiana Reasor Nulty is joining Sen. John Thune's office as health policy adviser, per Leadership Connect. She previously was director of federal government affairs for Genentech.
CJ Mahler is joining House Budget Committee Republicans as a senior policy adviser handling the health care portfolio. He was previously a professional staff member for the House Education and Workforce Committee.
Amanda Turner has been promoted to a professional staff member for House Budget Committee Republicans handling the health care portfolio, per Leadership Connect. She was previously a legislative assistant for the committee.
Todd Tuten is now chief counsel for Senate HELP Committee Republicans. He previously was the panel's senior health counsel and president of NN Consulting.
Katie West is now press secretary for House Energy and Commerce Republicans. She previously was communications director for Rep. David Schweikert.
Sam Somogye is now press secretary for Sen. Katie Britt, per Leadership Connect. He previously was communications director for Rep. Diana Harshbarger.
Elizabeth Joseph is now an aide for the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS subcommittee Republicans, per Leadership Connect. She was previously a policy director for Rep. Michael Guest.
Administration moves
Braden Murphy is now deputy assistant secretary for legislation at HHS. He previously was senior policy adviser for the House Budget Committee.
Paula Stannard is joining HHS as director of the Office for Civil Rights. She previously was chief legal counsel for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Abigail Jackson is now White House deputy press secretary. She previously was communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley.
Industry and lobbying moves
Chip Kahn, the longtime president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, is retiring at the end of 2025.
Sara Lonardo is now executive vice president at Focal Point Strategy Group. She previously was deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS.
Samantha Tirado is now director of policy communications at the Medical Group Management Association. She previously was the group's marketing director.
Lexi Branson is joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as vice president for health policy. She previously was a deputy vice president at PhRMA.
John Whyte is becoming CEO and executive vice president of the American Medical Association. He previously was chief medical officer at WebMD.
Hillary Loeffler is now vice president of policy and regulatory affairs at the National Alliance for Care at Home. She previously was a senior adviser at the CMS office of legislation.
Alex Hartzman is now vice president of research and analytics at the National Alliance for Care at Home. He previously was director of analytics at NORC at the University of Chicago.
Marni Gootzit is joining Medicaid Health Plans of America as vice president of communications. She previously was a senior public relations strategist at Marketing for Change.
Caroline Farrell is joining Foley Hoag as counsel. She previously was an attorney at the HHS Office of General Counsel.
Kevin Barstow is joining O'Melveny & Myers as partner. He previously was senior counsel and special assistant to the president at the White House.
James Swann is now director of communications at America's Essential Hospitals. He previously was director of communications at AHIP.
Conner Coles is now director of public affairs at AHIP. He previously was a press assistant at HHS.
David Sours is now director of federal government affairs at Philip Morris International, per Leadership Connect. He was previously chief of staff for Rep. Drew Ferguson.
Keven Sticher is now chief information security officer and vice president of engineering at Collective Health. He previously was vice president of product and cloud security at Dun & Bradstreet.
Caroline Jessen is now chief people officer at Collective Health. She was previously chief people and diversity officer at Zendesk.
Erin Mendelsohn is now vice president at The Alpine Group. She previously was senior director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Academic and nonprofit moves
Alyssa Penna is joining United States of Care as director of federal policy. She previously was an analyst at CMS.
Bri Gillis, Eden Giagnorio and Tara Saye are joining 314 Action for the 2026 campaign cycle. Gillis is serving as campaign adviser, Giagnorio as communications director and Saye as deputy development director.
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