Dr. Dale Bratzler, professor of health administration and policy and associate dean in the College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has been named a Senior Policy Advisor for the CDC effective June 16.

The Office of the Associate Director of Policy (OADP) has been charged by Dr. Frieden to lead the CDC in fulfilling the agency priority of strengthening the collaboration between public health and health care. To address this charge OADP has developed a Public Health – Health Care Collaboration strategy for the agency. To achieve success in rolling out the strategy across the CDC, OADP will need strong leadership support and expertise in the health care industry.

Dr. Bratzler was a clear choice based on his research focus — developing and maintaining national performance metrics on quality of inpatient and outpatient health care, evidence-based management of hospitalized patients and prevention of surgical infections, and the use of administrative data and information technology to improve the quality of health care and hospital outcomes. Dr. Bratzler’s experience in health care and public health, combined with his leadership and coordinating experience, will provide OADP assistance in assessing opportunities for public health and health care collaboration, and developing partnerships to improve CDC’s ability to coordinate with health care systems. Dr. Bratzler will gain knowledge in how the CDC and the federal government operate and expertise in the intersection of public health and health care. This initial appointment is for one year.