New HHS office to distribute stimulus funds

Office of Recovery Act Coordination has been established to oversee HHS' distribution of an estimated $137 billion in funds granted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, agency announces March 11. The office is tasked with distributing the money in a timely, transparent fashion. "We have already worked to put more than $3 billion in Recovery Act funds into states, and the new Office of Recovery Act Coordination will enhance and streamline our efforts," HHS says. Agency veteran Dennis Williams will head the new office as deputy assistant secretary for recovery act coordination. He has worked in HHS' Health Resources Services Administration and in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget. The Recovery Act, signed by President Obama in February, includes $1.1 billion in comparative effectiveness research funding (1"The Pink Sheet," Feb. 23, 2009, p. 5)