NCDHHS Sec. Mandy Cohen to step down, deputy secretary named successor

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy K. Cohen will step down from her position after five years on the job. The chief deputy secretary will assume her position.

Cohen, first appointed by Governor Roy Cooper in 2017, has been instrumental in the state government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has often been the public face and spokeswoman for everything from vaccinations to mask requirements in schools.

”It’s nice to be recognized, particularly as ‘The Three W’s Lady’,” Dr. Cohen quipped in an earlier interview with ABC11, noting her near-daily emphasis on wearing a mask, waiting six feet apart and washing hands as key efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. “But when I go home at the end of the day, I have two daughters and they could care less if I’m on TV or not.”

Indeed, the Department of Health and Human Services is among the largest agencies in state government and, in particular, the governor’s administration. As Secretary, Cohen is the de facto CEO of an organization with 17,000 employees and an annual budget of $20 billion. The department’s programs affect millions of North Carolinians, NC Medicaid, Public Health, Mental Health/IDD/SUD, State Operated Hospitals and Facilities, Economic Services, Adult and Child Services, Early Childhood Education, Employment Services, and Health Services Regulation.

In a news release, Gov. Cooper announced he appointed Kody Kinsley, current NCDHHS Chief Deputy Secretary for Health and lead for COVID operations, to succeed her beginning Jan. 1.

“Mandy Cohen has shown extraordinary leadership during her tenure and she has worked every day during this pandemic to help keep North Carolinians healthy and safe,” Cooper said. “We are stronger because of her efforts and I am enormously grateful for her service. She has built a remarkable team of talented people including Kody Kinsley, and I know he will continue the strong legacy of competence, effectiveness and efficiency as he takes over as Secretary.”

Before coming to North Carolina, Cohen was appointed by President Barack Obama to be the Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and was a key figure in managing several provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve this state at such an important moment in history,” Cohen said. “I am grateful for Governor Cooper’s leadership, and I am so proud of what we have accomplished to improve the health and well-being of the state over the last five years. There is much work still to do, and I am so pleased the Governor selected Kody Kinsley to take the baton to run the next leg of this race.”

Under Dr. Cohen’s leadership, North Carolina has been a model for best practices to provide equitable access to COVID-19 testing and support to families so that they could safely quarantine and isolate. NC has been recognized as best in the nation for data quality for vaccinations by race and ethnicity and under Cohen’s guidance, the state eliminated a vaccination gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic North Carolinians and narrowed the gap for Black and African-American communities.

Secretary Cohen has been lauded for her outstanding leadership during the COVID crisis. In September of 2020, Secretary Cohen was awarded the Leadership in Public Health Practice Award from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was named the 2020 Tar Heel of the Year by the Raleigh News and Observer newspaper and Dr. Cohen was also elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021.

In addition to her COVID response leadership, Cohen and her team successfully launched Medicaid managed care, receiving national recognition for the state’s innovative approach to whole-person care, including the integration of physical and mental health and using Medicaid to address drivers of health such as housing, transportation, and employment. Under Cohen’s leadership, NCDHHS hired its first Chief Health Equity Officer and has focused on reducing disparities in opportunity and outcomes for historically marginalized populations. In addition, NC implemented the first-in-the-nation statewide coordinated care network, NCCARE360, to electronically connect those with identified needs to community resources. This private-public partnership has been a key feature of NC’s COVID response and backbone to the innovative Health Opportunities pilot authorized under North Carolina’s 1115 Medicaid waiver.

Dr. Cohen is leaving DHHS in a strong position to continue to carry out its mission, Cooper said. Dr. Cohen plans to spend more time with her family while exploring new opportunities to carry on her work improving the health and well-being of communities.

Kody H. Kinsley, a native of Wilmington, NC, currently serves as the Chief Deputy Secretary for Health at NCDHHS and Operations Lead for NC’s COVID-19 pandemic response. During his nearly four years of service at NCDHHS, Kinsley has overseen the state’s response to the Opioid Epidemic. He has increased investment in help for those with behavioral health needs and developmental disabilities and created strategic interventions to transition justice-involved populations to care. Kinsley has also been a driving force behind the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response, including North Carolina’s vaccine distribution efforts.

Kinsley returned home to North Carolina after serving as the presidentially-appointed Assistant Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he led operations and finances for the cabinet-level agency, a position he held during both the Obama and Trump Administrations. He has also held roles at the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kinsley is a recipient of SEANC’s Unsung Hero Award, the Alexander Hamilton Award, and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brevard College in Brevard, NC and a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School at the University of California at Berkeley.

Kinsley will be the first openly gay cabinet Secretary in North Carolina history.

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