Serves as Health Care Affordability Board member
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science President and CEO Dr. David Carlisle, has taken on another role to ensure that South L.A. residents receive the proper medical care and attention they deserve. Carlisle has taken a seat on California’s Health Care Affordability Board.
The Board was created in 2022 by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a way to recognize and dedicate resources to the growing health crisis in California. The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) has three primary responsibilities: managing spending targets; monitoring system performance; and assessing market consolidation.
OHCA will collect, analyze, and publicly report data on total healthcare expenditures and enforce spending targets set by a new Health Care Affordability Board. The goal is to help provide health care that is accessible, affordable, equitable, high-quality, and universal to all residents in California.
Carlisle was recommended for the job and then sent in an application for his position on the board.
“I was the former director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and I knew that the Newsom administration was looking for individuals to join the board, and they reached out to Secretary Gharly and asked me to apply,” Carlisle said. “ I think with my experience in different departments and connection to the area it was an easy decision to apply and get hired.”
Carlisle’s vision for the board is the same as Newsom’s when he created it.
“It reflects Gov. Newsom’s vision, and Gov. Newsom has been focused on health and healthcare even before the pandemic hit, and once it happened, he took his focus of it to another level of intensity,” Carlisle said. “He’s very aware of how increasing the cost of healthcare has impacted California residents, especially in low-income communities.”
Carlisle doesn’t know which issues the board will look to solve first, but wants residents to know that the board was created to lower costs and create an efficient way for low-income communities to access proper healthcare.
“The dollar in healthcare doesn’t stretch very far these days, and the governor knows that,” he said. “We are going to do everything we can to change that and help all of California.”
The board will start having public meetings soon and will have a Public Comment agenda item available for people to give feedback and comments directly to the board. Send concerns and thoughts directly to Carlise by emailing at President@cdrew.edu, and he is welcome to answer all questions.
