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Dennis Gallagher, MA, MPA

Dennis Gallagher

Associate Teaching Professor
Health Management and Policy, Center for Population Health and Community Impact
267.359.6021
dmg44@drexel.edu
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Degrees

BA, History, LaSalle College; MA, History, University of Notre Dame; MPA, University of Pittsburgh

Bio

Dennis Gallagher, MA, MPA, is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy and Director of Health Policy at the Drexel University School of Public Health. Prior to coming to Drexel, Professor Gallagher had a 27-year career with the federal government, working with four agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in management and public health policy positions. He has advised and consulted with elected officials, federal, state, and local government agency officials, public health and advocacy organizations, and community groups on program and policy issues related to federal health programs.

Prof. Gallagher directed the Mid-Atlantic region's Child Health Initiative to increase insurance coverage and access to care for low-income families. He was a member of the President's Interagency Taskforce for Children's Health Insurance Outreach and provided staff support to the HHS Child Health Leadership Board, chaired by the Deputy Secretary for HHS, and to the Directors of the ten HHS Regional Offices. From 1998 through 2000, he coordinated the coalition for "Envisioning a Healthier Philadelphia," a collaborative effort of 70 local health and human services providers and state and city government officials committed to making Philadelphia a healthier place to live and work. In previous years, as a manager for the Health Care Financing Administration, he was responsible for state compliance with federal regulations and policy related to home and community-based waivers, statewide health care reform demonstrations, managed care waivers and contracts, and compliance with quality of care standards by nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, clinical laboratories, rural and federally qualified health centers, and other Medicare and Medicaid participating providers. He also assisted states with planning and implementing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Immediately prior to coming to Drexel, Professor Gallagher was a public health advisor to the Health Resources and Services Administration where he specialized in Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and HIPAA policy issues, and a program management officer for federally qualified health centers in Philadelphia and Healthy Community Access Programs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Professor Gallagher helped establish the Center for Academic Public Health Practice that is the formal professional linkage of the School of Public Health with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and with the Montgomery County Human Services Administration. Professor Gallagher has worked with other Drexel School of Public Health faculty to create departments of public health in Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania, and is the principal investigator for a Drexel Synergy Grant to Build a Model for Financing Local Health Departments in Pennsylvania. Professor Gallagher holds a Master’s of Arts degree in History from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Research Interests

  • Health Policy
  • History of Public Health
  • Medicare/Medicaid
  • Public Health Practice

Publications

Gallagher, D. & Kolker, J. 2008. Objecting to Public Health – Stories from Four Pennsylvania Counties. Commonwealth: A Journal of Political Science. 14(1): 83-97.