Tom Price Named to Jackson Healthcare Advisory Board

The former Health and Human Services secretary, who was forced to resign last fall after a scandal-shortened eight-month tenure, is hailed for his 'profound understanding of the national healthcare landscape.'

Tom Price, MD, the scandal-plagued former secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, has been named to the advisory board of Jackson Healthcare.

A spokesperson for the Atlanta-based healthcare staffing firm said that the company is privately held and would not detail Price’s compensation.

"Nobody has as profound an understanding of the national healthcare landscape as Dr. Price," Richard L. Jackson, chairman and CEO of Jackson Healthcare, said in a media release. "Tom has exhibited an unwavering commitment to preserving the patient-physician relationship. That mindset, along with his physician, business and policy experience, will make him an invaluable addition to our board."

Price, an orthopedic surgeon, and former Congressman from Georgia, was the first physician to serve as HHS secretary, a term that lasted from February to September, 2017. He was forced to resign in late September amid media reports that he’d racked up at least $400,000 in expenses for unauthorized chartered jet services.

Price’s short stint at HHS was marked by controversy from the onset. Senate Democrats during confirmation hearings last winter raised ethics concerns because Price, while a member of Congress, had bought shares of a medical device company days before introducing legislation that would have been beneficial to the company.

Price spent much of his tenure at HHS attempting to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a top priority of President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress.

"I am honored to join the advisory board at Jackson Healthcare," Price said. "Jackson Healthcare’s mission of working to improve patient care is wholly aligned with the work I have done for over four decades, and I look forward to helping them navigate the always changing healthcare environment."