HARTFORD, CONN (WTIC Radio)-Governor Ned Lamont has nominated Andrea Barton Reeves to lead the Department of Social Services and current DSS Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford as Commissioner of the Office of Health Strategy.
The nominations require approval by members of the General Assembly.
Reeves is currently President and CEO of the Connecticut Paid Leave Auhority.
“I am honored to have been selected by Governor Lamont to lead the Department of Social Services and I am grateful for this opportunity,” Barton Reeves said. “It has been my pleasure to work with an extraordinary team of people to make paid family and medical leave a reality for Connecticut’s workers. I look forward to continuing to serve the governor and the people of Connecticut in an even larger capacity. I also must thank Commissioner Gifford, who has been a stellar leader during one of the most challenging times our state has faced, and I am humbled to be following her as the next commissioner of DSS.” She holds a law degree from New York Law School.
Dr. Gifford has been the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services since 2019. Prior to that she served as Connecticut Public Health Commissioner.
“I want to congratulate Andrea Barton Reeves on her appointment as DSS commissioner, and I am looking forward to working with her in the upcoming term,” Gifford said. “She joins an incredibly talented group of commissioners and I know the team at DSS will benefit from her experience and talents. My time at DSS over the last three years has been among the most rewarding of my career. The department is staffed by a dedicated and hard-working team, who work every day to provide benefits and services to residents of Connecticut, and it has been my honor to lead them. At the same time, I am excited to take on the challenge of leading the Office of Health Strategy and continuing to build on the important work begun there by my predecessor. While Connecticut enjoys a high-quality healthcare system, we are faced with cost and affordability challenges that must be addressed. Our health outcomes differ based on race, ethnicity, and income, and there is a lot of work before us to ensure an affordable, accessible, and equitable system that works for every resident. The governor has asked me to coordinate his health policy agenda, and the Office of Health Strategy, with its broad mandate to address cost, quality, and access, is the ideal position from which to lead that work. I am grateful to Governor Lamont for the opportunity.”
