Jen Johns named executive director of The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio

Jen Johns has been named the new executive director of the Academy of Medicine of…

Jen Johns named executive director of The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio

Jen Johns has been named the new executive director of the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (AMCNO), the local physician advocacy group.

Johns will begin on Monday, Oct. 19, replacing Elayne R. Biddlestone, who plans to retire at the end of this year after serving as a staff member and executive vice president/CEO of the AMCNO for a total of more than 40 years, according to a news release.

Before joining the AMCNO, Johns led Cleveland Clinic’s state government relations work in Columbus as the health system’s director of government relations. In her time at the Clinic, she tackled issues including prior authorization reform, telehealth expansions, Medicaid reimbursement, addressing the opioid epidemic and examining scope-of-practice issues, according to the release. She also served as founder and chairwoman of the organization’s internal opioid task force that worked on solutions to the opioid epidemic in Northeast Ohio.

Before the Clinic, Johns lobbied for health care issues on Capitol Hill for the Children’s Hospital Association and a national patient advocacy organization; served as a graduate research assistant at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, researching mental health benefits for children enrolled in state CHIP programs; and worked in government relations for University Hospitals and for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, according to the release.

She earned her master’s of public health degree in health policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh and her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Ohio State University.