Dr. Jewell Mullen, who a freshly elected Gov. Dannel P. Malloy appointed in late 2010 as Department of Public Health Commissioner, is leaving for a federal job, the agency announced Friday.
Mullen, who has a medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said she has accepted a job starting in the new year with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
There are a dozen health offices that fall under assistant secretary’s umbrella, including the the Office of the Surgeon General and the National Vaccine Program Office.
HHS oversees Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. It also oversees the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Mullen was reappointed after Malloy’s reelection in 2014.
She also served as president for a national association of state health commissioners between 2014 and 2015.
