Press Releases

CHARLOTTE S. YEH, M.D., APPOINTED CMS REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR FOR BOSTON REGION

CMS Administrator Tom Scully today announced the appointment of Charlotte S. Yeh, M.D., an expert in emergency medicine and health policy, as regional administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in Region I, based in Boston.                                                      

CMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, administers Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.  Dr. Yeh, who is board certified in emergency medicine, will be responsible for guiding and coordinating policies for the three programs in the region, which includes the six New England states.

Until January 2003, Dr. Yeh was the medical director for Medicare policy for National Heritage Insurance Co. in Hingham, Mass. The company is the Medicare Part B claims contractor for four New England states. She was responsible for bringing together medical specialists, provider groups and patients to develop medical coverage policies.  

“Dr. Yeh is a highly qualified leader within the physician community who is also very familiar with this agency’s goals and priorities,” Scully said.  “For more than two decades, she has also been a strong advocate for improved care for patients in hospital emergency rooms.” 

Before coming to National Heritage Insurance Co. in 1998, Dr. Yeh worked for more than 20 years as an emergency physician in both clinical and administrative areas.  She served for eight years as the physician-in-chief of the emergency department at New England Medical Center in Boston.  In this role, she helped establish the first academic Department of Emergency Medicine at Tufts University Medical School in Boston.

Prior to that, Dr. Yeh was a staff physician and chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital for 13 years.  During this time, she established the first 24-hour, full paramedic service to the hospital’s local community of Newton, Mass.  This effort became a model for other community-based, emergency medical services in the region.     

Dr. Yeh was a member of the Boards of Trustees of the American Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Hospital Association, and she chaired the Massachusetts Trauma Committee, which is responsible for planning the statewide trauma system.   She has lectured frequently on blending clinical practice with the legal requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which guarantees access to emergency care. 

Dr. Yeh has received numerous awards and honors for her efforts on behalf of patients, including the areas of injury prevention and access to care. She received in 1995 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Public Service Award and in 1999 the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians Leadership Award.   For her strong advocacy on access to emergency services, Dr. Yeh received in 1999 the John Mills Award for Outstanding Contributions to Emergency Medicine.  

Dr. Yeh received a bachelor's degree in 1971 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and her medical degree in 1975 from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. She did an internship in general surgery at the University of Washington at Seattle and a residency in emergency medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles.