Courtney Phillips

Dr. Courtney N. Phillips is the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the state’s largest agency with a budget of $14 billion. Her oversight responsibilities include public health and other direct service programs for citizens in need such as behavioral health, developmental disabilities, aging and adult services, emergency preparedness, and the Medicaid program. Dr. Phillips served as executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) where she was committed to improving the health, safety and well-being for millions of Texans. She was responsible for more than 40,000 team members, a $78.5 billion biennium budget and more than 220 programs ranging from health care, food safety and benefits to public health tracking and regulation of child care, nursing and health care facilities. Under her leadership, Texas HHS developed its inaugural business plan, Blueprint for a Healthy Texas, which served as the agency’s guide to transform into a more efficient, effective and responsive system. In addition, the agency continued to transform inpatient psychiatric care through the construction and renovation of state hospitals across Texas, expanded its newborn screenings, eliminated the waitlist for outpatient mental health treatment through local mental health authorities, and improved access to women’s health and family planning services in Texas, including a 30 percent increase in the number of women served in the Healthy Texas Women program.