FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Courtney Stewart
Missouri Foundation for Health
(314) 345-5505
cstewart@mffh.org
Missouri Foundation for Health Welcomes Two New Vice Presidents
ST. LOUIS, MO (March 4, 2020) MFH welcomes two new additions to its Executive Team. Katherine Fritz is joining the Foundation as its vice president of learning and research, and Sheldon Weisgrau will become the new vice president of health policy. Both hires, whom were selected through a competitive national search, will provide organizational thought leadership and continue to elevate the Foundation’s presence as a trusted nonpartisan institution improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities most in need.
Vice President of Learning and Research Katherine Fritz joins MFH from the International Center for Research on Women in Washington, D.C. Her career has broadly focused on studying the underlying determinants of health, particularly how gender and economic inequality contribute to health vulnerabilities globally. Fritz’s academic training is in medical anthropology and epidemiology. For many years during the height of the global HIV epidemic, she lived and worked in sub-Saharan Africa where she developed and tested community-based approaches for preventing HIV and increasing uptake of HIV-related health services. In addition to HIV, Fritz’s research has ranged across topics such as adolescent health and wellbeing, alcohol abuse, and the prevention of gender-based violence. Her approach to research is shaped by her training in social science – always seeking to understand and respond to the priorities of community members, including those whose voices are least heard.
Fritz has served on the faculties of the University of California, San Francisco and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Yale University and a master’s in public health from University of California, Berkeley. She is a native Missourian, having grown up in St. Louis, and is thrilled to be returning to her home state.
Vice President of Health Policy Sheldon Weisgrau has a long history of working to develop innovative health care delivery and financing models in rural communities, including directing the programs that led to the creation of the Critical Access Hospitals. Most recently he was the senior policy advisor for the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a broad-based statewide coalition that worked to expand eligibility for KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Weisgrau has also served in senior positions with a consumer-focused Medicare contractor, a state-based policy think tank, and a rural health consulting firm. During this time, he has worked to ensure the delivery of health care services in rural and underserved communities and to enhance the knowledge and engagement of health care consumers, providers, and policymakers.
Weisgrau earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and has a master’s degree in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. He is also a member of the Rural Health Insights Leadership Forum, a national advisory group to the American Hospital Association’s Future of Rural Health Care Task Force.
With the arrival of the two new vice presidents, the recently restructured executive team is now fully staffed. “Sheldon and Katherine, both of whom have outstanding professional qualifications, were the best choice from a deep pool of highly qualified professionals in the field,” said Foundation President and CEO Bob Hughes. “Policy and learning and research are significant changemaking tools in our organization. We are pleased to have found the right individuals to assume leadership of these two areas.”
Fritz will officially join the Foundation on March 30 and Weisgrau will start on April 13.
