Kate Washburn, MPH
Associate Principal
Health Management Associates
New York, NY
[javascript protected email address]
Kate Washburn is a public health and program leader with over 20 years of experience in both public health departments and nonprofit organizations. Kate’s expertise includes program design, quality improvement, healthcare operations optimization and innovation, grant writing, and strategy development. Her work has focused on sexual and reproductive healthcare, women’s health, and health equity.
Before joining Health Management Associates, Kate was the national director of health outcomes improvement with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she led all clinical quality improvement, health equity strategies and public health program initiatives. Kate identified key insights and trends in health outcomes and patient experience, leveraging this information to develop plans addressing identified disparities. Under Kate’s direction, programs and strategies were designed to ensure and accelerate equitable and high-quality care and health outcomes across the federation.
Kate’s expertise in program design and implementation is further demonstrated during her tenure with the New York City (NYC) Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). In her most recent role as director of strategic initiatives, Kate led priority programs, including clinical quality improvement and expansion projects for DOHMH’s 10 sexual health clinics and maximizing the clinics’ billing revenue. She also developed and implemented a project management system for technology-related projects, including the STD Electronic Medical Record, self-registration kiosks, patient portal and text messaging systems.
Kate is skilled in community engagement and cross collaboration. With Planned Parenthood, she developed and led partnerships with external organizations leveraging evidence-based best practices and innovations within health equity, improvement, and public health. As the director of strategic initiatives with the NYC DOHMH, she led a government-private sector partnership with Medicaid Managed Care organizations, and initiatives with juvenile detention centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, acute care hospitals, and adolescent and reproductive health clinics.
In addition to her programmatic and project management experience, Kate has in-depth grant management experience, both as a grantee and a grantor. She managed a $1 million grant for Planned Parenthood focused on developing clinical quality improvement metrics and improving STI outcomes within 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates. For the NYC DOHMH, Kate managed a $5.6 million Center for Disease Control (CDC) grant, including submitting progress reports, performance measures, and workplans. She also oversaw the program’s compliance with federal regulations and grant requirements.
Kate earned her Master of Public Health in population and family health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She also has a bachelor’s degree in government and international relations from Wesleyan University.
Outside of work, Kate dedicates her time and focus to her husband, three children, two cats and one dog as well as reading, travel and puzzles.