HARTFORD, CT - Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has received notification from Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) Commissioner Deidre Gifford, MD, MPH, informing him of her intention to retire from state service next month.

Commissioner Gifford has served as the head of OHS since the start of Governor Lamont’s second term in office in January 2023. In the governor’s first term, she served in several leadership positions, including as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services beginning in June 2019 and as acting commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health beginning in May 2020, during which she was responsible for leading the administration’s response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and became the governor’s top advisor on the pandemic.

In addition to her current position, for the last several years Commissioner Gifford has been tasked with serving as Governor Lamont’s senior advisor for health and human services. In this added role, she has been responsible for organizing a multi-agency approach among the state’s nine health and human service agencies to ensure that these agencies are operating in a coordinated manner and functioning optimally in areas where they may have overlapping responsibilities.

She is an obstetrician and gynecologist trained in public health and health services, and her background includes healthcare quality improvement and payment reform initiatives in both the public and private sectors at the state and national levels.

“For the last several years, Deidre has provided exceptional service to the people of Connecticut, most notably serving as our administration’s chief advisor on the COVID-19 pandemic and helping to formulate our policies and guidance to protect the health and wellbeing of our residents during that challenging time,” Governor Lamont said. “I firmly believe that she is one of the reasons why many people consider Connecticut’s response to this global virus to be among the best. She has been dedicated to developing policies and data-driven solutions that expand access to healthcare, improve disparities, and drive costs down. In addition to providing valuable public policy guidance, she has become a good friend, and I appreciate all that I have learned from her. I wish her nothing but the best on this well-earned retirement.”

“Since June of 2019 it has been my privilege to work alongside Governor Lamont, his team, and an amazing group of commissioners to serve the people of Connecticut,” Commissioner Gifford said. “I will always be grateful to the governor for trusting me to be by his side during some of the most difficult days of the pandemic, and to serve as his advisor in the years since. As a physician, I am proud to have had the Lamont administration’s support of my work to expand access to healthcare and make sure every person has access to the care they need and deserve. As I move on to this next chapter, it is with immense gratitude to the staffs at DSS, DPH, and OHS, who have stood with me, taught me, and shown me by their examples the meaning of public service. Thank you to all my legislative colleagues for your partnership on our shared goals. And most importantly, thank you to the people of Connecticut for warmly welcoming me and my family and for your generosity throughout my time in government here.”

Prior to joining Connecticut state government, Commissioner Gifford served from 2016 to 2019 as deputy director for the Center of Medicaid and CHIP Services at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington, DC, where she oversaw the full scope of Medicaid functions at the federal agency. From 2012 to 2015, she served as Medicaid director in the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and from 2005 to 2011 she was co-founder and project director of Rhode Island’ s multi-payer Medical Home demonstration, one of the nation’s first and most enduring multi-payer payment reform initiatives.

OHS is the state agency responsible for implementing data-driven strategies that promote equal access to healthcare, improve the value of healthcare, contain costs, and ensure better healthcare systems for the state’s residents.