Best Wishes Marilyn Tavenner in Running the CMS

     

 

    I first met Marilyn B. Tavenner in 1987, when I was interviewing for jobs in the Richmond, Virginia area, and was moving to the area from out of state.  At the time she was a fairly young Director of Nurses to the new incarnation of Johnston-Willis Hospital.   The original hospital within Richmond city had a diploma School of Nursing, and Marilyn has been a graduate. However, she missed no time in getting additional degrees part time, in order to continue up the ladder.   I did not get that job, on our first meeting, primarily because she only had openings in Oncology at the time, and this was not an interest for me.
              I found it easier to get a job once my family and I were in Richmond, and I went to work for another Richmond hospital.  I did encounter Marilyn at hospital related functions, especially since the two hospitals we worked in were siblings of the HCA or Hospital Corporation of America chain.  I also remember visiting Marilyn in the hospital in which I worked,  when one of her children was born.
             Over the years our paths have been very different. She has continued on a hospital administration track, and I worked as a critical care registered nurse, left for a time to homeschool my children and to work in public health, and then I relocated to another area of Virginia where I taught college level health and nursing related courses, before writing books and running our farm.
              I was aware that Marilyn eventually headed twenty hospitals in the HCA regional area in the South, and this is where I lost track.   Another nursing administrator I knew from that time that I saw some time ago told me that Marilyn had been appointed to be the Virginia Secretary on Health and Human Resources.
But today I heard even more interesting news.   Marilyn B. Tavenner has been appointed by President Obama as the permanent director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  Marilyn had been the acting director of that organization for a time until the  US Senate had approved her permanent appointment.  She now runs an organization which employs 4000 people and manages a budget of 820 billion dollars in federal health care spending per annum.
             Our family friend, Congressman Eric Cantor was a large proponent of Marilyn in this role.   I do remember that Marilyn is a competent administrator, and that she strongly believes in the value of choices and the role of private health care options for our citizens.  I wish her good luck in this role, and feel a sense of relief that at least this one organization will be run properly, even though the rest of Obamacare looks bleak.
            Good luck, Marilyn.  With your clinical and administrative experience and expertise, if anyone can do justice to us, and do this job well, it will be you.




More information:

Marilyn Tavenner appointed to lead CMS