New NCDHHS Secretary Dev Sangvai lays out vision for agency

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Sitting inside a conference room at the Adams Building, Dr. Dev Sangvai balances measure and excitement in describing his role as North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary.

"We have an agency when fully staffed should be about 19,000 people, so we're huge. Each and every one of those individuals brings their best to work every day. I've been really inspired by the people, but it's also the people we reach," Sangvai said. "This is a big agency and we reach people at programmatic levels where we run major programs throughout the state and at an individual level where those benefits that we provide make the difference oftentimes between life and death."

Last month, Sangvai was sworn into office, becoming the first Indian American to serve in the Cabinet of a North Carolina governor.

"I had 20 years of experience in working in health care in North Carolina as a health care provider, as a family physician, as a hospital administrator. (I) briefly (worked) on the plan side and the advocacy side. I felt that I had built up a great knowledge of information over the last two decades, and it's also a desire to give back," said Sangvai.

Sangvai, a member of the North Carolina Medical Board, held several roles at Duke, including as a professor and president of Duke Regional Hospital. He pointed to the state's strong medical research institutions, including in the Triangle, as a key tool in helping enhance public trust.

"All the research shows that individuals first trust their health care provider, their doctor, their PA, their nurse practitioner. It's important that we continue to capitalize on that individual trust. We are really blessed in this area to have the phenomenal research capacity not only in the Triangle but across the state and then the incredible infrastructure we have with the healthcare facilities, the hospitals and the clinics. I think when you take that all together and by working together, we create that additional element of trust," said Sangvai.

He said that among his priorities are partnering with counties to ensure those who are eligible for Medicaid can sign up, outreach to rural communities, and making the public more aware of the services available to them.

"I also want to make sure that the programs and services we're providing are working for all North Carolinians. (There will be) a heavy focus on looking at the types of things we do in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Vital Records in our state-run facilities. And importantly, (we) also want to focus on workforce. Many of the things that we need to do really need a strong and stable workforce. And so (we're) trying to identify ways we can encourage individuals to join our team and stay as part of our team," said Sangvai.

Sangvai, who formerly served as President of the North Carolina Medical Society, said NCDHHS has had a strong partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services, specifically when it comes to communication. He said he believes it's vital amid efforts to combat medical misinformation.

"I want to continue to build on that (partnership), and we do that in several ways," he said. "One is to be crisp, clear and concise, make sure that the messaging that we send out is easy to understand. Minimize the medical jargon and put it in regular terms that individuals can understand to be factual, to focus on the facts, and then to be as timely with the information as possible. Being clear, concise, factual and timely and sometimes we have to repeat that message quite honestly, because of the misinformation, because of the challenges. I think we should be prepared to say that we can no longer just issue information and expect it's going to be instantly adopted."