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Friedlander named secretary of Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Formerly held ‘acting’ position
Eric C. Friedlander
Eric C. Friedlander

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Eric C. Friedlander has been officially named secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday.

Beshear said that Friedlander, who has served in an “acting secretary” capacity through the pandemic emergency, has “more than earned the full-time job. He has shown grace in times of great difficulty and he is exactly the kind of person I want to have going forward.”

Serving the public for over three decades, Friedlander has oversight of a recognized national agency serving the health and human services of over four million residents of the commonwealth. Friedlander’s state government tenure – a mix of appointments and acting roles – has also included a stint as deputy secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; leadership of the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs; Family Resource and Youth Service Centers; the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, and the Office of the Inspector General.

He led and managed the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act and transformation of Kentucky’s healthcare delivery system.

He is the former chief of resiliency and community services for Louisville Metro Government and was instrumental in helping the City of Louisville earn designation as a Compassionate City. Friedlander’s contributions there helped ready the nation’s 27th-largest city to prepare for, withstand, and bounce back from chronic stresses and acute shocks.

He also led the agency responsible for anti-poverty programs, including Neighborhood Place, Meals on Wheels and other collaborative programs with partners ranging from Metro United Way to the Coalition on the Homeless.

Friedlander, of Louisville, holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

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