Melinda G. Rowe, MD, MBA, MPH, has been appointed Assistant Medical Director of Health Systems for the Alabama Medicaid Agency. In this capacity, Dr. Rowe will coordinate and work with Agency staff on a number of issues including long term care, radiology/lab programs and quality initiatives, and will serve as the Agency’s contact person for the Alabama Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics, along with other duties. She will also assist Medicaid Chief Medical Officer Robert Moon, MD.
Board certified in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine, Dr. Rowe is a graduate of the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama, School of Medicine, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she earned Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Public Health. Her career includes a variety of public health leadership positions in Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama, including more than six years as the Director of Health for the Louisville/Jefferson County Health Department in Louisville, Ky., where she was responsible for the public health of a community of more than 1 million people.
Dr. Rowe comes to the Agency with more than 25 years of high-level experience in public health management. Prior to joining Medicaid, Dr. Rowe was in private practice, served as regional medical director at Qualis Health in Birmingham, and was a medical consultant to the State of Alabama’s Disability Determination Service.
Dr. Rowe has a strong professional interest in rural health care, health education/prevention, and evidence-based medicine leading to increased quality of care. She hails from north Alabama and operates a cattle farm with her husband in Chilton County.