Biography
Everette James serves as Director of Pitt’s Health Policy Institute (HPI) and manages its day-to-day operations, working closely with government, foundation, and business funders to support the Institute’s research and programs. He is also Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Policy and Planning, Schools of the Health Sciences, and M. Allen Pond Professor of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School of Public Health. Before joining Pitt, he served as the 25th Pennsylvania Secretary of Health and oversaw the regulation of all of the hospitals, nursing homes, and managed care plans in the Commonwealth. He was responsible for managing the Department of Health’s 1700 employees and nearly $1b annual budget, and chaired and served on many statewide boards and commissions including the Pennsylvania Health Policy Board, Health Research Advisory Committee, and Health Care Cost Containment Council. As Secretary, he led the passage and implementation of the 2009-10 Pennsylvania homecare registration and licensure regulations which ensure the quality and safety of home care for recipients and their caregivers.
Everette was co-Principal Investigator of The Caregiver Project - a two-year study with the Pitt Health Policy Institute, the University Center for Social and Urban Research, and RAND. The study identified significant risk factors for caregivers, systematically surveyed caregivers and care recipients in the Western Pennsylvania region, and investigated implementation of the CARE Act at local hospitals. Everette authored landmark HPI report Addressing the Health Needs of an Aging America: New Opportunities for Evidence-Based Policy Solutions. This report found that current policy efforts at the state and federal levels fail to address health and economic risks that caregivers experience, and recommended a set of concrete policy solutions. In 2016, he authored a second report titled Addressing the Needs of Caregivers at Risk: A New Policy Strategy. The report identified policy levers to support family caregivers by reducing economic hardship and increasing services and employment flexibility. His 2016 article in Health Affairs - Embracing the Role of Family Caregivers in the US Health System provided a roadmap for federal long-term care reform efforts. Everette continues to advise state and federal policymakers on the integration of caregivers into the health system.
Professional Involvement
- Co-Chair, Advisory Board for the National RRT Center on Family Support
- Director, Pitt Health Policy Institute, Associate Vice Chancellor, Health Policy and Planning
- Interim Dean, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh