Susan Hill

Susan Hill is a career-long public servant serving over 30 years in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). She has a deep devotion to health equity for underserved communities, including access and quality in a broad array of settings including alternatives to institutional care for people with disabilities and elders. Susan values meaningful engagement of stakeholders in policy making and is also an advocate for strategic planning and continuous process improvement.

Currently, Susan is the Acting Director of the Policy and Program Alignment Group in the Office of Minority Health (OMH), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This Group is responsible for working across CMS programs, policies, models, and demonstrations to mitigate barriers to health equity for a wide array of underserved communities.

As a Senior Advisor to the OMH Director, Susan championed an agency response to Presidential Executive Orders on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” including leading a cross-agency Advisory Council on Equity responsible for assessing whether underserved communities and their members face systemic barriers in access and quality.

Susan championed the design, implementation, and management of a cross-agency capabilities in strategic planning and portfolio management. As Director, Strategic Planning Group in the CMS Office of Strategic Planning, Susan provided leadership and executive direction to a staff of strategy management and process improvement consultants who lead a culture shift in the Agency. Susan demonstrated a persistent optimism while driving the development of cutting-edge strategic planning and management, environmental scanning, stakeholder analysis, and performance management capabilities. She worked to inspire creative and innovative approaches to improve program operations within the Agency.

While working in the Medicaid Program, Susan led the development and implementation of the Money-Follows the Person demonstration program, a five-year $1.75 billion grant program to help states “rebalance” their long- term care systems from institutional care and give people the freedom to live in the community. Earlier in her career, she led the charge for the President’s New Freedom Initiative at the Agency, a comprehensive program to promote the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of society by promoting increased access, respect, dignity and self-determination.

Upon graduating from the University of Connecticut with a master’s in public policy in 1992 she began her career as a Presidential Management Intern at the National Institutes of Health. Today, she resides in Ellicott City MD with her husband of 30 years; She is the proud mother of three young adults who are pursuing various careers in public service.