New CDC Director Mandy Cohen and the Nursing Background that Inspired Her

On May 5, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky announced she would leave her post at the end of June after serving in the position since 2020. On June 16, the Biden administration announced the intent to appoint Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, as Walensky’s replacement.

Throughout her career, Cohen gained experience in a variety of healthcare fields. But she was initially inspired to embark on the journey by her mother, an emergency room nurse practitioner.

“She’s one of the most incredible clinicians I’ve ever known,” Cohen said in a news release. “Through her eyes, I first saw the impact that healthcare professionals make every day in the lives of their community. And that positive impact is why I charted my own career path into medicine.”

The CDC’s mission is to protect Americans from a myriad of health threats. The agency coordinates responses to infectious disease threats and partners with other countries to reduce gobal morbidity and mortality rates. The agency seeks to create a place where people can live healthier, safer, and longer lives.

Nurses, of course, are critical partners in all these efforts.

Tina Gordon, MPA, CAE, FACHE, CEO of the North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA), said Cohen’s tenure as secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) indicates she understands the challenges facing the nursing profession.

“Dr. Cohen was a very collaborative and inclusive leader at NCDHHS, and this approach extended to her engagement with and for the nursing profession,” Gordon told NurseJournal. “Her mother is a nurse practitioner, so she is very familiar with the practice of nursing, including advanced practice.”

These collaborations have taken on new importance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2017, the American Nurses Association (ANA) announced a collaborative partnership with the CDC and nursing organizations to improve infection prevention and control education for frontline nurses. No one could have anticipated how prescient that would be.

The CDC is not only concerned with infection control and prevention but also the factors that increase the risk of healthcare-associated infections and occupational injuries. These factors include staffing shortages, nursing mental health and burnout, and violence in the workplace. Each factor plays a role in how effectively frontline workers can respond to emerging infectious disease threats.

As the world moves into a post-pandemic environment, the new CDC director will be faced with planning for the next infectious disease threat while establishing a stronger nursing workforce throughout the country.

Cohen is an internal medicine physician and public health expert with experience leading complex healthcare organizations. She had been a chief operating officer and chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) before joining NCDHHS.

Cohen served as an adjunct professor in health policy and management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She finished her undergraduate degree at Cornell University in New York and received her MD from Yale School of Medicine. She completed her education with a master’s in public health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and completed her internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Cohen comes to the CDC director position familiar with the negative impact that a nursing shortage has on patient care and outcomes in North Carolina, where she served from January 2017 to December 2021. According to a 2021 report, the state is projected to have a shortage of nearly 60,000 healthcare workers by 2026.

Cohen described seeing inequities in the healthcare system through her mother’s eyes — and through the lens of the emergency room. From this experience, she came to understand that the country needed an equitable healthcare delivery system, which led to her career choices at CMS and NCDHHS.

“I led the largest change to the state’s Medicaid program in its history — layering in investments in advanced primary care and integrated whole-person care, including mental health and the non-medical drivers of health,” she said in the release.

After leaving NCDHHS, she took a position at Aledade, a medical practice consultancy specializing in value-based care.

As CDC director, Cohen will have the capacity to promote and shape policies and practices that can positively influence the nursing profession.

“Not only did she understand the important role of nurses in the delivery of healthcare, she understood the importance of including nurses in discussions and decisions impacting patients,” Gordon recalled. “She encouraged this from department staff, as well. Dr. Cohen reached out directly to NCNA on many occasions, seeking opportunities to gather our perspectives and engage our leaders in the work at the department. It was appreciated.”

We also spoke with Tim Nanoff, MSW, vice president for policy and government affairs at the ANA, who said he was encouraged by Cohen’s track record and the potential for positive change in the nursing profession.

“Dr. Cohen is a well-known and respected healthcare leader with a track record of bringing stakeholders together,” Nanoff said. “ANA looks forward to working collaboratively with her in her new role leading the CDC. Nurses have a vested interest in a strong public health system and a strong CDC to continue to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future challenges.”

Gordon expressed similar optimism, viewing Cohen as a collaborative leader capable of building bridges.

“Dr. Cohen was a very collaborative and inclusive leader at NCDHHS, and she proactively engaged with NCNA on a frequent and routine basis,” Gordon said. “This approach extended to her staff, as well, and has continued since her departure. NCNA’s working relationship with NCDHHS is stronger and closer today than it has ever been, and much of that is due to Dr. Cohen’s leadership.”