Farewell reception set for new HRSA Chief Mary Wakefield Faculty and staff at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences invite you to a farewell reception for Mary Wakefield, associate dean for rural health and director of the Center for Rural Health, from 3:30 to 4:15 Tuesday, March 3, at the UND medical school’s Vennes Atrium. One of the nation’s top rural health care professionals, Dr. Wakefield was appointed last week by President Obama to serve as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Dr. Wakefield will oversee this critical agency, which helps to deliver health care to those who are uninsured and underserved by our current health care system. "As a nurse, a Ph.D., and a leading rural health care advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved," President Obama said. "Under her leadership we will be able to expand and improve the care provided at the Community Health Centers, which serve millions of uninsured Americans and address severe provider shortages across the country." Also a tenured professor, Dr. Wakefield has expertise in rural health care, quality and patient safety, Medicare payment policy, workforce issues, and public policy. She has authored many articles and columns on health policy and is on the editorial board of a number of professional journals. Dr. Wakefield previously served as director of the Center for Health Policy, Research, and Ethics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. She also served as the Chief of Staff for United States Senator Kent Conrad from January 1993 to January 1996 and as Legislative Assistant and Chief of Staff to Senator Quentin Burdick. Dr. Wakefield has served as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Special Medical Advisory Group. She served as chair of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Health Care Quality for Rural America and of the Catholic Health Initiatives Board of Trustees, and was a subcommittee chair for President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. Dr. Wakefield received her M.S. in nursing and her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and her B.S. in nursing from the University of Mary at Bismarck, N.D. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and is a recipient of numerous awards including the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) 2006 Nurse Research Award and the 2008 Nursing Economics Margaret D. Sovie Writer's Award. Please join us to celebrate her accomplishments and wish her well.