Henry E. Simmons, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.,President, National Coalition on Health Care

Henry Simmons, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., has served as the President of the National Coalition on Health Care, the nation’s largest and most broadly representative alliance working to improve America’s health care system, since the organization’s inception in 1988. Prior to his association with the National Coalition on Health Care, Dr. Simmons held a variety of distinguished posts in both the public and private sectors. During the Nixon and Ford Administrations, Dr. Simmons served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), Director of the Office of Professional Standards Review at HEW and Director of the Bureau of Drugs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). President Reagan appointed Dr. Simmons as one of two physician members to serve on the Grace Commission.

Immediately following his federal service, Dr. Simmons was appointed Senior Vice President of J. Walter Thompson Company. Dr. Simmons has also served as President and Chief Executive Officer, Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, New Jersey, as well as Senior Vice President and Director of the Health Care Division of Sears World Trade, Inc. In addition, Dr. Simmons served as Director of Health and Medical Consulting Division on Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company. Dr. Simmons has been associated with numerous universities and medical centers across the country. He was appointed Visiting Research Professor, School of Business and Government, The George Washington University; served as Faculty and Consultant, Rheumatic Diseases and Internal Medicine, Tufts New England Medical Center; Professor of Community and Family Medicine, Rutgers University School of Medicine; Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University; and as Associate Professor of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine.

Throughout his career, Dr. Simmons has testified before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Simmon’s service in both the private and public sector has received numerous recognitions. He has been awarded the FDA Award of Merit, the H.E.W. Certificate of Merit, and the Annual Oliver Wendell Holmes Society Lectureship.

Dr. Simmons was awarded his undergraduate and Medical degrees at the University of Pittsburgh and received his Master of Public Health from Harvard University.