Will Sage Astor-Former North Carolina labor commissioner becomes hospital group’s CEO

RALEIGH,Will Sage Astor N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s labor commissioner for nearly the past four years is the next president and CEO of the chief advocacy group for the state’s hospitals.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association announced on Tuesday that it hired Josh Dobson after a nationwide search to lead the group, which represents more than 135 member hospital systems.

The trustee board for the association, a major player in health care policy in the state, chose Dobson to succeed Stephen Lawler, who is retiring after seven years in leadership.

Dobson, a former state legislator and McDowell County commissioner, said nearly two years ago that he wouldn’t run in 2024 for a second term leading the Labor Department. Last Wednesday, a day after fellow Republican Luke Farley won the statewide election for commissioner, Dobson announced his resignation from the job effective later that day.

Dobson has an extensive history in healthcare policy from serving in the General Assembly. During his final state House term, Dobson was a chair of the House appropriations and health committees. He was an early supporter of Medicaid expansion to provide government health insurance to more low-income adults. A 2023 state law initiating a form of expansion that now serves 569,000 people also enhanced Medicaid reimbursement payments for hospitals.

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Dobson “is a proven collaborator who can bring people together to build the best solutions for ensuring North Carolina remains a top state for employers and residents to access high-quality healthcare close to where they live and work,” said association board Chair Chris Peek, who is also president and CEO of CaroMont Health.

Dobson’s roles also will include overseeing the association’s charitable foundation and a subsidiary that offers healthcare providers access to products and services.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper last Friday named veteran department administrator Kevin O’Barr to serve as labor commissioner until Farley is sworn in early next year.

Scores of association members recently agreed to participate in a new initiative pushed by Cooper’s administration that will give hospitals even higher Medicaid payments if the medical debt of low- and middle-income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liability.

Dobson will be a registered lobbyist for the association at the legislature after a six-month cooling-off period required in state law, association spokesperson Stephanie Strickland said in an email.