Department Announces Leadership and Organizational Updates

August 9, 2019

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) is announcing a series of leadership and organizational updates intended to strengthen performance to better serve department clients.

WDH Director Michael Ceballos recently named Stefan Johansson as the department’s deputy director. Johansson has been leading the Director’s Unit for Policy, Research and Evaluation (DUPRE) as senior administrator since 2015 and joined the department as a policy analyst in 2013.

Johansson will continue to lead DUPRE, as well as overseeing Vital Statistics Services and other WDH Director’s Office functions and staff members. In addition, Johansson has taken over state-level, day-to-day supervision of the Wyoming Life Resource Center in Lander and the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston.

Ceballos has also tapped Heather Babbitt to serve as interim senior administrator for the Behavioral Health Division following the recent retirement of longtime administrator Chris Newman. Babbitt has been the division’s operations administrator since 2017 and previously served in leadership positions at WDH and at the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

“This time of transition has created a good opportunity to review the Behavioral Health Division’s structure,” Ceballos said. “We have done this, and as a result I am making a series of organizational changes.”

Effective August 16, the Developmental Disabilities Section will move from the Behavioral Health Division to Wyoming Medicaid, which is part of the Healthcare Financing Division. The Developmental Disabilities Section oversees home- and community-based services for people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries.

“These critical services have always been offered through Medicaid waiver programs funded with Medicaid dollars,” Ceballos said. “The waivers serving this client population will now be aligned with other Medicaid-funded waivers such as for long-term care. We expect this will help promote consistent and efficient policy, compliance and reporting.”

Ceballos plans a hiring search for a permanent Behavioral Health Division administrator.