HHS Announces Former DHS Official Lisa J. Pino as New OCR Director

HHS has appointed Lisa J. Pino as director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR oversees civil rights enforcements, HIPAA regulations, security, privacy, and breach notification rules.

Most recently, Pino served as the executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, where she led New York’s COVID-19 operational response along with Medicaid, Medicare, AIDS Institute, and the Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), among others.

Pino previously served as a senior executive service official at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), appointed by President Barack Obama. At DHS, Pino led cyber breach mitigation efforts surrounding the largest breach in federal history by establishing new cybersecurity regulations and renegotiating vendor procurements.

"Lisa is an exceptional public servant, and I am delighted to welcome her to the role of the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS," Xavier Becerra, HHS secretary, stated in the announcement.

"Her breadth of experience and management expertise, particularly her hand in advancing civil rights regulations and policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the Obama-Biden Administration, will help ensure that we protect the rights of every person across the country as we work to build a healthier America."

Prior to DHS, Pino was the deputy administrator of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and served as the USDA deputy assistant secretary for civil rights. In this role, Pino led efforts to create USDA’s first gender identify anti-discrimination program regulation and the department’s first limited English proficiency guidance.

Pino is originally from New York City and worked as a legal aid attorney advocating for the rights of migrant farm workers prior to joining the Obama Administration.

Pino will succeed Roger Severino, the agency’s longest-serving director, who served throughout the Trump Administration. After Severino resigned in January 2021, attorney Robinsue Frohboese served as acting director of OCR until Pino’s appointment.

OCR recently settled its twentieth case under the HIPAA Right of Access Initiative, marked by an $80,000 civil monetary penalty paid by Children’s Hospital & Medical Center (CHMC) in Nebraska.  

The office now faces changes to HIPAA right of access policies due to a recently proposed rule that would allow individuals to transmit certain protected health information in an electronic format to any third party.