Governor Perdue named senior policy advisor Al Delia as Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), following the resignation of Secretary Lanier Cansler last Friday. Delia was appointed Policy Director in March 2009, after serving as president and CEO of North Carolina’s Eastern Region Development Commission, which oversees business recruitment and economic development of a 13-county region in Eastern North Carolina. Before joining the Commission, Delia spent 20 years working in economic development for the North Carolina University System. He earned a BA in Political Science from Drew University in New Jersey.

Secretary Cansler’s resignation is effective January 31, 2012. He was appointed by Governor Perdue in 2009. He served as deputy secretary from 2001 to 2005, after serving in the State House. In a prepared statement released by the Governor’s Office, Cansler said he plans to take a job in the private sector and will serve as the unpaid chairman of a state commission on affordable health care, to be named later.

DHHS is the state’s largest governmental department and oversees the North Carolina Medicaid Program. The state budget and the Medicaid program are high priorities of the NCMS Legislative Affairs Team. We will be providing updates and analysis throughout the year at https://www.compassionatecarenc.org/ and in the Bulletin.   

See related story, Special Report: DHHS Secretary Cansler Resigns (1-14-12).