It is with mixed emotions that we formally announce upcoming transitions at the Institute for Health Policy and Practice (IHPP). On July 1, 2023, Professor Lucy Hodder will transition from her leadership role as Director of Health Law and Policy programs at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, College of Health and Human Services and IHPP. As part of this transition, Deborah Fournier, JD, will be leading the Health Law and Policy focal area at IHPP.
In 2015, the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, UNH College of Health and Human Services, and IHPP launched the Health Law and Policy programs to support education, research and policy informed by health law and regulatory strategies. Lucy has served as the founding director, leading the law school to build a robust and engaged health law and bio-innovation program, serving simultaneously as the head of the Health Law Certificate Program at the law school, professor of law and the director of Health Law and Policy at the Institute and the College. The partnership has educated students and the community around key health law and policy issues allowing for collaboration, integration, and change.
Health Law and Policy has become an integral focal area of IHPP under Lucy’s leadership, with experienced IHPP leaders and teams providing innovative, educational and informed assistance, research and strategy across health policy areas, including access to equitable and affordable health insurance, health system regulatory reform, mental health and substance use prevention and treatment, confidentiality and ethics, maternal health and telehealth.
On July 1, 2023, Lucy will step back from her combined role and transition the program to new leadership both at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and IHPP as she begins a self-directed sabbatical year to focus on scholarship. Lucy will continue to be closely affiliated with the Law School, the College and IHPP.
The Institute is excited to announce that Deborah Fournier, JD, Senior Associate in Health Law and Policy, will be our director of health law and policy focal area at IHPP, joining a talented team of researchers. Deborah joined IHPP in September of 2020. In addition to serving at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), Deborah is a former Medicaid Director for New Hampshire and supports IHPP with regulatory and legislative reviews, analyses, and reports on state and federal policy developments relevant to New Hampshire's vibrant health policy landscape.
Before joining NH DHHS, Deborah led strategic planning and implementation of health care policy and advocacy at the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, including partnership in the effort to expand Medicaid in New Hampshire. She also previously served as a Senior Policy Analyst for National and Federal Affairs at the Massachusetts Office of Medicaid, Executive Office of Health & Human Services. Deborah is admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts and earned her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in History from Whitman College.
Please join us in congratulating Lucy and Deborah!
~ From all of us at IHPP
