Blunt taps Harvard doctor to lead MO HealthNet

McCaslin, 50, most recently served as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and as an attending physician in the pediatric emergency department at Children’s Hospital Boston. Prior to that, he served for 10 years as the medical director for emergency care at Children’s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego and as division director in the division of pediatric emergency medicine at the University of California-San Diego.

McCaslin holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Presbyterian College in South Carolina, a doctorate of medicine from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

In addition to academic work at Harvard and the University of California, he has served as an instructor in pediatrics at George Washington University. He has served on several hospital and university, local, national and state committees and has contributed to multiple professional trade publications and college textbooks.

“Dr. McCaslin brings an abundance of expertise and experience to this very critical position,” Gov. Matt Blunt said in a news release. “He is assuming this leadership position at a very exciting and critical time as we launch the new MO HealthNet program focused on health, wellness and prevention for our state’s most vulnerable people. With his expertise as a physician and his public policy work in health care, he is the best person for this important position.”

The transition to MO HealthNet is a result of the passage of Senate Bill 577, which took effect Aug. 28.

Under the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, MO HealthNet promotes prevention and wellness by setting up health care homes for enrollees. Physicians at health care homes – located at existing facilities – would serve as a central point of contact for patients to provide personal attention and help people create personalized long-term health plans, with the goal of catching health issues early and preventing illnesses. The program also expands health care for working people with disabilities and for foster children until they reach the age of 21.

McCaslin said in the release that public health can be improved through enhanced access to quality care and promotion of healthy lifestyles.

“My chief interest is in working collaboratively to pursue strategies for prevention of disease and to better coordinate management of chronic illness,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]