Wen a professor again at George Washington
Former Baltimore health commissioner was ousted at Planned Parenthood
Dr. Leana Wen, the former Baltimore health commissioner who was ousted last month as the Planned Parenthood CEO, has a new job as a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Mina Radman, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., university’s school of public health, said Wen is rejoining the university as a visiting professor in health policy and management. She also said Baltimore’s former health commissioner will be a distinguished fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.
In a tweet, Wen said she is “honored to join exceptional colleagues” and “train future generations of public health leaders who are dedicated to achieving health equity and fighting for social justice.”
Wen told The Baltimore Sun she still plans to live in Baltimore and is particularly excited about the distinguished fellow role as the institute honors the work of Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, her mentor since she was 18. “He (Mullan) exemplifies what it means to be a physician-leader: someone who advocates for health as a human right, who fights against deep-rooted injustices, whose North Star is serving patients and communities most in need,” Wen told The Sun.
Planned Parenthood ended Wen’s employment at a “secret meeting,” she said on Twitter at the time. Wen said she had “philosophical differences” with Planned Parenthood board of directors and its decision to “double down on abortion rights advocacy.” She left her Baltimore post in October to become the reproductive rights organization’s sixth president.
Wen became known as an outspoken health commissioner during her nearly four years in Baltimore, regularly appearing on TV and writing op-eds.
She also became a leading voice criticizing the Trump administration for cuts to public health and other social service programs, as well as speaking against what she’s called rollbacks to reproductive rights.
A board-certified emergency medicine physician, Wen has served on the faculties of both the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the department of health policy and management at Milken Institute School of Public Health.