There are signs that the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reorganization announced in late January is finally in motion. It is still unknown, though, if the 340B program is moving to a new home in the HRSA administrator’s office, per the plan, or if the program is getting new leadership.
“The status of this reorganization remains under review,” a HRSA spokesperson said.
Last week, HRSA posted job openings for a lead auditor and lead legislative analyst in its Office of Provider Support (OPS)—a new HRSA office created under a Jan. 21 reorganization memo. OPS’s job is running the government’s COVID-19 provider relief fund. It is housed with the Office of the HRSA Administrator. In an indication of its newness, OPS does not yet appear on HRSA’s organizational chart.
The OPS job ads were one of the first public signs that the Biden administration is sticking with at least some of the changes to HRSA that the Trump administration announced during its final days.
The HRSA reorganization memo—on paper, at least—also created two other new program offices, both also housed in the HRSA administrator’s office: an Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, and an Office of Special Health Initiatives (OSHI).
OSHI, on paper, includes the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA), which runs the 340B program, plus HRSA’s vaccine injury compensation, global health, oral health, and behavioral health programs. In a Jan. 15 email to HRSA’s staff, Tom Engels, Trump’s HRSA administrator, announced that Rear Adm. Krista Pedley, the current OPA director, “will serve as the director of this new organization.” After the HRSA reorganization was announced, persons knowledgeable about HRSA’s internal affairs said they expected that the OPA director position would soon be posted on the federal USA Jobs website. That has not happened, however.
The Biden administration has not yet appointed a HRSA administrator, which could be a reason why there has been no movement on OSHI’s creation, Pedley’s elevation to lead OSHI, or a search to succeed Pedley at OPA.
Pedley, who for now remains OPA director, is scheduled to speak during the 340B Coalition virtual summer conference tomorrow, July 21.
