Anya Rader Wallack Appointed as UVM Health Network SVP for Strategic Communications
Wallack will lead advocacy and communication strategy to advance the Network’s mission-driven vision to transform health care.
BURLINGTON, VT-- The University of Vermont Health Network today announced the appointment of Anya Rader Wallack, PhD, as Senior Vice President for Strategic Communications.
Wallack, originally from Vermont, is a Professor at the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, RI. She has worked in high-level health policy positions for former Vermont Govs. Howard Dean and Peter Shumlin, and former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo.
She will replace Theresa Alberghini DiPalma, who served the UVM Medical Center and UVM Health Network for nearly 20 years before stepping down on June 4.
John Brumsted, MD, President and CEO of the UVM Health Network, noted that Wallack’s appointment is an important step in furthering alignment of the community relations, government relations, and communications and engagement disciplines to continue to build understanding, awareness, and support for the health system’s strategic vision and impact.
“We have created an integrated health care delivery system across western and central Vermont and northern New York that preserves access to services that our patients and their families depend on,” said Dr. Brumsted. “Everything we do is in service to this mission. We focus on doing what is right for our patients and our communities while providing a national model for high quality health care delivery and sustainable financing.”
Wallack said, “I believe the American health care system is in crisis and can only be fixed by people who have a clear vision for reform and are in a position to improve it. I have dedicated my professional life to improving our health care system and keeping it affordable. The UVM Health Network has an extraordinary leadership team. I share their vision and values and am excited to join them.”
Dr. Brumsted thanked Alberghini DiPalma for her leadership accomplishments and emphasized the importance of building on a strong foundation of external partnerships to achieve the UVM Health Network vision. “To be successful in service to our patients, we need to further our alignment with leaders at the federal, state and local levels, as well as business and community leaders in the local areas we serve,” he said.
“Anya is a skilled researcher, administrator and communicator who understands what we are trying to achieve and why it is unique and valuable in the country, as well as how it relates to the science of health system improvement. She also understands Vermont and the history of our health system transformation. She is uniquely qualified to tell our story, back up our actions with evidence of what works and align our efforts with the needs of our essential partners.”
Wallack holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Heller School at Brandeis University. She served in Rhode Island as the Director of the State’s Health Insurance Exchange, Medicaid Director and Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services. In Vermont, she served as the first Chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, Special Assistant for Health Policy to Gov. Shumlin and Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Assistant for Health Policy to Gov. Dean.
She will begin work at the UVM Health Network on July 15.
About the University of Vermont Health Network
The University of Vermont Health Network is a five-hospital system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives. The partners are:
- The University of Vermont Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health & Hospice
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
Our 4,000 health care professionals are driven to provide high-quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to the University of Vermont, each of our hospitals remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly skilled experts.
###