Dr. Debra Bogen, shown here speaking at a Delaware County birthing center about the Shapiro administration's efforts to improve maternal health and care for mothers and children, was confirmed on Monday as Pennsylvania's health secretary. June 6, 2024 Commonwealth Media ServicesAfter 18 months as serving as the acting head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health, Dr. Debra Bogen is now the state’s health secretary.
He also highlighted the department’s work under Bogen’s leadership to create a Long-Term Care Transformation Office to invest in long-term care facility improvements and staff training; establishing a Division of Maternal Health Services toparticularly for Black women; launching a $1 million tuition assistance program to help recruit and retain EMS professionals; and taking action to limit access to xylazine, a powerful sedative found increasingly in illicit drugs.
Despite those achievements, Bogen’s support for masking and restrictions on large gatherings among other mitigation strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic were among the concerns that contributed to her failure to win Senate confirmation last year, causing, R-Cumberland and Perry counties, who spoke of “how badly the government’s draconian response to COVID hurt our children. Dr. Bogen supported those harmful policies without regret.
Sen. Chris Gebhard, R-Lebanon County, also opposed her confirmation but for a different reason. He pointed to the difficult relationship U.S. Steel had with the Allegheny County health department under Bogen’s leadership, saying it contributed to the company’s decision to locate a new plant in Arkansas.
“I think her strengths do not match up with what I value as a priority to head up the state Department of Health at this current moment,” Gebhard saidBefore joining the county health department, Bogen worked in the Pittsburgh region medical and research community for more than two decades. She earned her medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed her residency and general academic pediatric fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital.