FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2007
CONTACTS
Dennis Loose, HHS Chief Deputy Director, (402) 471-6042
Jeanne Atkinson, Communications and Legislative Services Division, (402) 471-8287
HHS Appoints Puls, Schmidt as Service Area Administrators
Lincoln – Chris Peterson, acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced the recent appointments of Michael Puls and Jeff Schmidt as Service Area Administrators (SAA).
"Mike and Jeff have outstanding leadership skills and a good understanding of the services that HHS provides for the people of Nebraska," Peterson said. "I’m confident they will work hard to ensure the delivery of quality health and human services."
Mike Puls became the Service Area Administrator for the Northern Service Area on January 30, after serving as Acting SAA since September 2006. He started working for HHS in 1983, and his background includes being a Protection and Safety Worker, a Resource Development Specialist, and an administrator. Puls has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a master’s degree in human development and the family from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The Northern Service Area covers a 24-county area surrounding Norfolk that extends west to Cherry County,
Jeff Schmidt became the Service Area Administrator for the Southeast Service Area on February 5. He worked as an attorney in Legal Services in the Department of HHS Finance and Support since August 2001. Before that, Schmidt was in private practice in Lincoln from 1991 to 2001, representing children and parents in the juvenile system. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) and a law degree from the UNL College of Law. The Southeast Service Area covers a 17-county area surrounding Lincoln.
To view a map of the five Service Areas, go to http://www.hhss.ne.gov/SvcAreaMap.pdf.
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