Deborah Zahn

Senior Policy Director, Diabetes Policy Center

Ph: 212-584-7679

Zahn@NYSHealth.org

Deborah Zahn joined the New York State Health Foundation as the Senior Policy Director for its statewide Diabetes Campaign. In this position, she works with the Foundation, the Campaign, and its partners to develop and advance public and private policy aimed at reducing the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of diabetes in New York.

Ms. Zahn was previously the Director of External Affairs and Interim Director of Performance Improvement and Health Information Technology Programs for the Primary Care Development Corporation where she used her experience in both the policy and program arenas to support the primary care sector and improve access to high quality care for uninsured and underserved communities.

Prior to that position, she was the Director of Program and Policy Development at Community Premier Plus, a not-for-profit Medicaid managed care plan. In this position she advanced policies and programs to support low-income residents of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. Before moving to New York, Ms. Zahn was the Director of three of the cornerstone initiatives for the uninsured in Alameda County, California:

• the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Communities In Charge Project;
• the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded Community Voices for Immigrant Health project; and
• the California Endowment and California HealthCare Foundation-funded Frequent Users of Health Services Initiative.

Ms. Zahn was also the Director of the Alameda Health Consortium’s American Legacy Foundation-funded Tobacco-Use Intervention Project, which implemented cessation services at community health centers and advanced county and state policies to support the availability cessation services. Prior to that position, Ms. Zahn managed a Kaiser Permanente program that developed and implemented prevention and self-care programs across 32 medical facilities in Northern California. Ms. Zahn holds a Master of Public Health degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies, both from the University of California at Berkeley.