Craig Wilson, JD, MPA, has been chosen to lead the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement as president and CEO following a national search. Wilson has served as the organization’s interim leader since January and before that worked as ACHI’s director of health policy. He joined the health policy center in 2011.
“I am honored to be entrusted with the leadership of ACHI at this crucial juncture for health care in Arkansas,” Wilson said. “Our work to transform health data into knowledge and insight to inform individual, institutional, and governmental decision-makers has never been more important, and I look forward to developing and expanding the partnerships and innovative approaches necessary to continue to improve the health of all Arkansans.”
A native Arkansan and graduate of Lyon College in Batesville, Wilson has a law degree from the Georgia State University College of Law and a master’s degree in public administration from the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. During his 15 years with ACHI, he has led healthcare workforce strategic planning efforts, influenced the development of the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative, and published extensively on a variety of topics, including Medicaid coverage and financing, private equity investment in healthcare, and social drivers of health. Wilson hosts ACHI’s podcast, Wonks at Work, which has welcomed dozens of experts since 2020 in an effort to demystify complex health care topics for listeners.
Wilson was selected to be ACHI’s president and CEO by the organization’s administrative committee, which is composed of the chief administrators of each of ACHI’s three sponsoring organizations: Dr. C. Lowry Barnes, interim chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Curtis Barnett, MPA, president and CEO of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield; and Renee Mallory, RN, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health. Wilson succeeds Dr. Joe Thompson, who served as ACHI’s president and CEO for 22 years before transitioning to a president emeritus role earlier this year.
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