Co-Chair: Meena Seshamani, M.D., Ph.D., Secretary of Health
Co-Chair: vacancy, Executive Director, State Health Services Cost Review Commission
Appointed by Senate President: Mary L. Washington, Ph.D.
Appointed by House Speaker: Jamila J. Woods
Appointed by Secretary of Health with advice of State Health Services Cost Review Commission: Bryan Buckley, Dr.P.H.; Cynthia Calixte, M.D.; Elizabeth L. Chung; Laura Garcia; Darrell Gray II, M.D.; Melony G. Griffith; Anna Maria Izquierdo-Porrera, M.D., Ph.D.; G. Johnson Koilpillai, M.D.; Elinor J. Petrocelli; Chanté Richardson, Ph.D.; Deneen N. Richmond, R.N.; Sara A. Seitz; Tiffany Wiggins, M.D.; Jefferson Vasquez-Reyes; two vacancies.
Representing Maryland Association of County Health Officers: Kisha N. Davis, M.D.
Ex officio: Leslie Ray, designee of Secretary of Aging; Kelsey H. Goering, designee of Secretary of Budget & Management; Tonya B. Wigfall, designee of Secretary of Commerce; Kirsten C. Bosak, designee of Secretary of Disabilities; vacancy, designee of State Superintendent of Schools; Alyssa S. Lord, Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health Administration; Perrie T. Briskin, Deputy Secretary for Health Care Financing & Medicaid; Meg Sullivan, M.D., Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services; Danielle Meister, designee of Secretary of Housing & Community Development; Richard Lichenstein, M.D., designee of Secretary of Human Services; Kristin R. Fleckenstein, designee of Secretary of Planning; Marie L. Grant, J.D., Maryland Insurance Commissioner; Mark A. Luckner, Executive Director, Maryland Community Health Resources Commission; Douglas B. Jacobs, M.D., Executive Director, Maryland Health Care Commission; Shondelle M. Wilson-Frederick, Ph.D., Director, Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities; Kisha N. Davis, M.D., Chief Health Officer, Montgomery County.
Staff: Marianne M. Gibson
![[photo, 100 Community Place, Crownsville, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/images/buildings/1198-1-07698b.jpg)
c/o Opioid Operational Command Center
100 Community Place, Crownsville, Maryland, July 2016. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Interim Report to Governor, Senate Budget & Taxation Committee, Senate Finance Committee, House Appropriations Committee, & House Health & Government Operations Committee due Dec. 1, 2023 & Dec. 1, 2024 (Chapter 749, Acts of 2021; Chapter 787, Acts of 2024; Code Health-General, sec. 13–4307).
Using a health equity framework, the Commission examines the health of Maryland residents; and ways for State and local governments to collaborate in implementing policies that affect their health. The Commission also considers factors affecting health, such as access to safe and affordable housing; education; employment; economic stability; inclusion, diversity, and equity in the workplace; mobility and access to transportation; social justice; the environment; public safety; and food insecurity.
The Commission advises the Secretary of Health and through the Secretary the senior administrators and planners in the Maryland Department of Health on issues of racial, ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic health disparities; facilitates coordination of State agencies in developing a comprehensive health equity plan that addresses the social determinants of health; sets goals for health equity; and is to prepare a plan for the State to achieve health equity.
Forty-four members constitute the Commission. One member is appointed by the Senate President, and one by the House Speaker. Fourteen members are appointed by the Secretary of Health. A local health officer represents the Maryland Association of County Health Officers. Twenty-seven members serve ex officio. The Secretary of Health and the Executive Director of the State Health Services Cost Review Commission co-chair the Commission (Chapter 787, Acts of 2024; Code Health-General Article, sec. 13–4303).
Authorization for the Commission ends June 30, 2026 (Chapter 787, Acts of 2024; Code Health-General Article, sec. 13–4307).
Jennifer Bailey, R.N.; Margo Coruzzi; Tiffany Deprospero; Geoff Dougherty, Ph.D.; Susan Elerding; Jessica Galarraga, M.D.; Sule Gerovich, Ph.D.; Shante’ Gilmore; Chris Haffer, Ph.D.; Sherita Hill Golden, M.D.; Chrisna Gray; Nikardi Hynes; Anna Maria Izquierdo-Porrera, M.D., Ph.D.; Shawnta Jackson; Terris King, Sc.D.; G. Johnson Koilpillai, M.D.; Julie Kornmann; Tanesha Mondestin; Bianca Smith-Black, Ph.D.; La Stelshia Speaks.
As provided by law, the Maryland Commission on Health Equity formed the Data Advisory Committee in January 2022 (Chapter 749, Acts of 2021; Chapter 787, Acts of 2024; Code Health-General, sec. 13–4206). The original Data Advisory Committee was disbanded by October 2024 and a new committee was established in January 2025.
The Committee makes recommendations on data collection, needs, quality, reporting, evaluation, and visualization for the Maryland Commission on Health Equity. Moreover, parameters of a health equity data set to be maintained by a State designated health information exchange are to be defined by the Committee. These parameters will include indicators for social and economic conditions; environmental conditions; health status; behaviors; health care; and priority health outcomes for monitoring health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations in Maryland.
The data set for which parameters are defined is to include data from health care facilities that report to the State Health Services Cost Review Commission; health care payers that report to the Maryland Health Care Commission; and any other data source the Committee determines necessary.
POPULATION HEALTH IMPROVEMENT FUND
The Population Health Improvement Fund was established by the General Assembly in July 2025 (Chapter 615, Acts of 2025).
Maryland participates in the Achieving Healthcare Efficiency through Accountable Design (AHEAD) Model of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This Model is a voluntary state-based total cost of care model that works to manage rising health care costs, bolster investment in primary care for patients, and improve overall health statewide.
A special nonlapsing fund that supports population health goals, the Population Health Improvement Fund is required to participate in the AHEAD Model and it finances part of the Model's strategies called Food is Medicine Interventions. Overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Food is Medicine Interventions are a assortment of services focusing on diet-related health conditions. The Fund in Maryland focuses on two types of Interventions: Medically Tailored Meals, or meals delivered to patients with complex or severe illnesses, and Produce Prescriptions (Produce Rx), which are vouchers offered by healthcare providers to patients with diet-related condition to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Maryland Department of Health and the State Health Services Cost Review Commission oversee the Population Health Improvement Fund in Maryland. In July 2025, those same agencies established the Population Health Improvement Fund Subcommittee as an advisory and review body to support the operational governance and distribution of the Fund.
Michelle Briggs Blanc; Michelle Boulden-Hammond; Meenakshi G Brewster, M.D.; Dimitrios Cavathas; Darrell Gaskin, Ph.D.; Michael Planz; Eleanor Preston; Donald Shell, M.D. Terms expire 2026.
In Jan. 2022, Health Equity Policy Committee was created by Maryland Commission on Health Equity.
Committee advised Maryland Commission on Health Equity on employing a health equity framework to address and eliminate health disparities.
Disbanded by Oct. 2024.
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e-mail: mdmanual@maryland.gov
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