HARGAN - Key Persons
Emily Duke Hargan has 25 years of experience in government affairs, public policy, and fundraising. She works closely with clients on issues related to regulatory policy, focusing primarily in healthcare both at the federal and state level. She actively consults with both political campaigns and independent organizations on policy initiatives and fundraising strategies. She is also the founder of the political and lifestyle blog Bourbon and Politics.
Emily was an integral part in advancing the regulatory policy agenda for some of DC's premier third-party advocacy groups for over 20 years. She has also built a national reputation as a fundraiser and a strategist-working with teams to raise multi-million dollar budgets for politicians, political organizations, and policy groups. In these leadership roles, she cultivated relationships with top leaders in business, public policy and government. She has also served on the finance committees for three presidential campaigns and two gubernatorial campaigns.
Emily is a proud native of North Carolina and graduated with honors from the University of Virginia. She is married to The Honorable Eric D. Hargan, former HHS Deputy Secretary, has two teenage sons and lives in Arlington, VA.
Eric D. Hargan is the Founder and CEO of The Hargan Group, a full-service consulting firm with unparalleled experience offering regulatory guidance, public health innovations and strategic public policy solutions. He has 30 years of experience working for the public and private sectors and unique insight and experience working for the United States Government.
Hargan served as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2017 to 2021, as well as Acting Secretary in 2017-2018. From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Hargan also served at HHS in a variety of capacities, including holding the position of Acting Deputy Secretary.
Beginning in the Spring of 2020, he served on the Board of Operation Warp Speed coordinating HHS agencies and working with multiple public and private sector entities to facilitate efforts across the entire endeavor in developing vaccines and therapeutics.
With over 80,000 employees across 26 divisions, HHS is the largest department in the federal government and has an annual budget in excess of $1.3 trillion. As Deputy Secretary, Hargan oversaw the development and approval of all HHS, CMS, and FDA regulations and significant guidances; as well as the day-to-day operations and management of the department, while leading policy and strategy development. In March 2020, he launched the $175 billion Provider Relief Fund. Hargan convened the HHS-White House team, coordinating with HRSA to administer, and United Health Group to service the fund's operations, resulting in $26 billion in relief sent to providers in under two weeks from passage of the CARES Act.
In between his times at HHS, Mr. Hargan was a practicing attorney specializing in healthcare regulation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and government relations. Hargan received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard University, and his J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review.
He is an Adjunct Professor of Management at Vanderbilt University and Fellow of the Center for Healthcare Market Innovation in the Owen Graduate School of Management.
He currently serves on the boards of University Hospitals, based in Cleveland, Ohio; Alio Medical, based in San Francisco, California; Tomorrow Health, based in New York, New York; HealthTrackRx, based in Denton, TX; and SIU Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy, based in Springfield, IL. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and is a Fellow of the Health Evolution Forum.
Mr. Hargan was born and raised in Mounds, Illinois, and lives in Virginia with his wife, Emily, and their two sons.
Houston Chronicle: Surgeon general in Houston: 'Put politics aside' and place greater trust in science
Washington Examiner: Science and Technology are Working to Save Us, but Our Public Health System is Failing
Kenneth R. Callahan III was the Chief of Staff for Deputy Secretary Hargan in the Immediate Office of the Secretary (IOS) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, Callahan was responsible for department-wide strategic initiatives including but not limited to healthcare regulatory reform, innovation and healthcare finance. He directly supported the HHS Secretary on policy development and execution for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Office of Administration and the Office of Finance. Callahan supported the Deputy Secretary on executing the HHS/CMS regulatory agenda, allocation and distribution of $175 billion from the Provider Relief Fund, Digital Health, Congressional affairs, Gubernatorial affairs, Rural Health, Kidney Initiatives, Global Affairs, External affairs and much more. He played major roles in cross-departmental initiatives such as telehealth expansion, Stark and Anti-kickback reform, the Rural Health Action Plan, Health IT and launching LymeX - the largest public-private partnership to combat Lyme disease in history. As part of his inter-agency responsibilities, he interfaced regularly with the White House Domestic Policy Council, Council of Economic Advisors, National Security Council, Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of State on these initiatives.
He began his career on Capitol Hill working for Congressman David Joyce (R-OH). Later, he worked at the National Republican Congressional Committee and then subsequently, the Republican National Committee before joining the Deputy Secretary's office in January of 2018.
Callahan received his BA from Ohio Wesleyan University where he was an all-conference NCAA lacrosse player and his Masters in Health Administration (MHA) from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Deputy HHS Secretary Tours Davis Global Center, Highlights UNMC 's Role in Pandemic Response