Governor Ehrlich Names Del. Van Mitchell as Deputy Secretary of Health;

McCann Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene

ANNAPOLIS – Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., today named S. Anthony “Tony” McCann Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene. McCann brings more than two decades of experience in health, budget, and management issues to the department. Governor Ehrlich also named Delegate Van T. Mitchell (D. La Plata) and John Folkemer Deputy Secretaries at the department.

“Tony McCann brings twenty-three years of leadership in health policy to his new post,” said Governor Ehrlich. “His experience in health care policy, budgeting and management will help us build on our many successes under retiring Secretary Nelson Sabatini. I have confidence that Tony’s team, including Delegate Mitchell, with ten years of health policy and budgeting experience in the legislature, and John Folkemer, with over twenty-five years of health care finance experience, will work across the aisle and with all stakeholders to deliver quality and affordable health care in Maryland. This team brings together decades of federal and state experience to benefit Maryland.”

Tony McCann’s health policy experience includes tenures at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services from 1986 to 1989, he served as chief budget, procurement, and management official and executed a $400 billion budget for a staff of 117,000. As Assistant Secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs from 1989 to 1993, he oversaw a $30 billion budget for a staff of 240,000 while advising the Secretary on medical care and research, housing, and educational assistance. He also served as Commissioner on the President’s Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation’s Veterans from 2001 to 2003, which made major recommendations on drug procurement and drug benefits for veterans. He is currently Director of Financial Affairs for the Smithsonian Institution, where he oversees a $100 million budget. He also served as Deputy Director of the American International Health Alliance, building partnerships in more than 20 countries dealing with health care access and policy initiatives.

McCann, 61, earned his B.A. from Lake Forest College in Illinois in 1966 and his M.A. from Syracuse University in 1969. A lifelong Montgomery County native, McCann and his wife live in Silver Spring.

The Honorable Van T. Mitchell, 48, earned years of health policy experience as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 28 in Charles County, a seat he has held since 1995. Delegate Mitchell has served as Chairman of the Joint Oversight Workers’ Compensation Committee and as a member of the House Health Subcommittee while a member of the House Economic Matters Committee. He also served as Chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Subcommittee from 2003 to 2004, which oversaw a $3 billion budget, while a Member of the House Appropriations Committee. Delegate Mitchell also served as Joint Chair on the Joint Audit Committee in 2003, which had oversight for all legislative audits of State agencies.

Delegate Mitchell has served as President of MSI, Inc., a supply company, since 1985. He and his wife live in La Plata.

John G. Folkemer, 56, has 25 years of experience in the State Medicaid Program, developing community-based waiver programs and other innovative policy initiatives. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Department’s Office of Planning and Finance, where he developed and managed $4 billion in Medicaid provider reimbursement and administrative budgets. He also serves as State Medicaid Director, overseeing a State program that serves 636,000 Marylanders. Folkemer is also an important liaison to the legislature on Medicaid policy development.

Folkemer earned his B.A. from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania in 1969 and his M.P.A. from the University of Baltimore in 1981. He lives with his wife in Baltimore.