The Oregon Public Health Institute has named Liz Baxter as its new executive director.
The public health institute is a nonprofit, formed in 1999, that works to improve the health of Oregonians. It is a member of the National Network of Public Health Institutes.
“I am excited to join an organization whose goal is to improve the health of Oregonians, especially with the lenses of equity and social justice,” Baxter said.
Baxter also is the board chair of Cover Oregon, the online insurance exchange that opens in October. She has three decades of experience in health and health policy, most recently as executive director of We Can Do Better, a grassroots organization focused on emphasizing health, rather than health care, in policy debates.
Baxter will succeed Mary Lou Hennrich, who retired as the institute’s executive director after 10 years.