A Transition in HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau

Cross-posted from: TargetHIVExit Disclaimer

On October 10, 2024, HRSA published the following announcement:

[On October 10, 2024], we announced that Laura Cheever, MD, ScM, Associate Administrator of the HIV/AIDS Bureau, will be retiring at the end of this calendar year from the Health Resources and Services Administration after 25 years of federal service. Dr. Cheever joined the Health Resources and Services Administration in 1999 as the Branch Chief for the AIDS Education and Training Center program in the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) and became the Deputy Associate Administrator of HAB in 2002. She rose to HAB Associate Administrator in 2013. She has led the successful implementation of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) and the $2.6 billion investment to support patient-centered HIV care and treatment to over half of all people with diagnosed HIV in the United States. Board certified in Infectious Diseases, she continued to see patients with HIV on a weekly basis for most of her federal career.

During her tenure in HAB, she led efforts to publish client level data and utilize that data to focus strategies to drive improvements in HIV related outcomes with HIV viral suppression rates rising from 69.5% in 2010 to 89.6% in 2022 for RWHAP patients. She promoted the use of quality collaboratives and an implementation science approach to drive improvements and reduce disparities for key populations which she documented in the peer reviewed literature. Dr. Cheever championed increased community engagement to identify gaps and address needs to improve the program. After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, she led policy changes within the RWHAP to maximize the impact of the ACA for people served by the program. She provided leadership in developing the framework and roll out of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. Initiative in 2020. She is proud of her work in the early PEPFAR program, leading HRSA collaboration with CDC to quickly scale up initiation of highly active antiretrovirals to 1.4 million people between 2004 and 2011. Within HRSA and across government, she fostered collaboration to maximize impact within existing resources. She leaves a vibrant organization ready to take on the continued challenges of ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.

We are pleased to announce Heather Hauck as the Acting Associate Administrator. Heather is currently the Deputy Associate Administrator of the HIV/AIDS Bureau, where she provides leadership, technical expertise, and resources for the administration of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. Initiative. Ms. Hauck was formerly the Director of the Maryland Department of Health Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration (IDEHA). Prior to the Maryland Department of Health, Ms. Hauck served as the Section Chief, New Hampshire DHHS Division of Public Health, STD/HIV Section in Concord, NH. Before her work in New Hampshire, Ms. Hauck was a co-director and the HIV social worker at the Washington Hospital Center Social Work Department in Washington, D.C.