Message from the Secretary, 2018–2022 HHS Strategic Plan
Each day of the year, the men and women of the Department of Health and Human Services come to work to enhance and protect the health and well-being of the American people. In pursuit of this mission, HHS’s workforce applies unique skills, uncommon dedication, and a special passion for their work.
Every four years, it is appropriate to carefully reflect and set forth specific goals and strategies for fulfilling our mission, which we do through our department strategic plan.
In the 2018–2022 Strategic Plan, we have identified five goals for the department:
- Reforming, Strengthening, and Modernizing the Nation’s Healthcare System
- Protecting the Health of Americans Where They Live, Work, Learn, and Play
- Strengthening the Economic and Social Well-Being of Americans Across the Life-Span
- Fostering Sound, Sustained Advances in the Sciences
- Promoting Effective Management and Stewardship
These goals inform our work and set standards for our performance. They also lay out a framework for approaching specific health and human services challenges, such as the high cost of health care that burdens so many Americans and the epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose that has reached every corner of our country.
To consider how the department can better organize and manage itself to achieve the Plan’s five goals, HHS has embarked on a process called ReImagine HHS, which has engaged staff from around the department. ReImagine HHS identified six strategic shifts as opportunities for the department to advance its work: Leveraging the Power of Data, Restoring Market Forces, Putting People at the Center of HHS Programs, Generating Efficiencies through Streamlined Processes, Making HHS a More Innovative and Responsive Organization, and Moving to a 21st Century Workforce.
These shifts will enhance and refocus HHS’s work. The opportunity for transformation they represent and the sense of purpose identified in the five goals of this Strategic Plan should serve as an inspiration to the work HHS’s 79,000 employees carry out every day.
That work is vital, and our goals are urgent. As public servants, we at HHS will dedicate ourselves to these goals and to all the work we do on behalf of the American people.
Alex M. Azar II
Secretary, Health and Human Services
