Rachel Garfield, Ph.D., M.H.S.

Rachel Garfield, PhD, MHS is Executive Director of the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP) and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. Garfield has over two decades of experience in Medicaid policy research and is an expert in data analysis on insurance coverage and access to care for low-income populations. She also has expertise in behavioral health policy, particularly public financing for behavioral health services, and quality improvement partnerships to promote child health. In her current role, Dr. Garfield serves as PI on a major grant that supports over a hundred faculty and staff across 10 departments in quality improvement for children served by Vermont Medicaid, works with University leadership and faculty to develop new initiatives, and collaborates closely with child health policy leaders in the state to address state policy priorities. She also is actively engaged in research on multiple grant projects that draw on her experience and expertise in health policy and Medicaid financing and coverage. In addition, Dr. Garfield serves on multiple regional and national advisory boards to lend her expertise to ongoing policy and research activities. Prior to her current position, Garfield was a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation and co-director for its Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured; other previous roles have included assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, policy analyst in state and federal Medicaid/CHIP policy, and research consultant for hospital operations and management. Garfield holds a B.A. degree from Harvard College, a Master of Health Science degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University.