The current head of the Vermont department that operates the state Medicaid health insurance program and the state-based health insurance exchange is moving to the Agency of Digital Services.
Andrea DeLaBruere, who has led the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) for almost two years, will become the second-in-command at the agency charged with modernizing and simplifying the state’s information technology systems. Gov. Phil Scott announced her appointment as deputy secretary at the digital services agency on Tuesday afternoon.
When DeLaBruere changes roles on Dec. 18, current Deputy Secretary Addie Strumolo will begin her second stint as acting commissioner of DVHA until a permanent appointment is made.
Scott created the Agency of Digital Services through an executive order in January 2017, his first month as governor, to consolidate information technology functions across state government.
Denise Reilly-Hughes, the permanent secretary of the Agency of Digital Services since September, said in a press release that DeLaBruere “will play a pivotal role in steering Vermont’s IT Modernization journey towards success” in her new position.
Reilly-Hughes took over as interim secretary of the agency after Shawn Nailor retired in January 2023. Nailor himself had only been in the top job for nine months, after the agency’s first leader, John Quinn, departed for the private sector.
Before her appointment to DVHA in December 2021, DeLaBruere was an executive director for the Agency of Human Services, where she helped coordinate the agency’s six departments, assisted with the agency’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and served as the executive office’s liaison to the Vermont Legislature.
“Andrea has been a reliable and dedicated public servant in several roles across state government, and she will be able to use that experience and knowledge at ADS, which serves the entire enterprise,” Scott said.
DeLaBruere is originally from the Northeast Kingdom and currently lives in central Vermont. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education from Norwich University and her Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Southern New Hampshire University, according to the administration’s announcement.
