Reider to leave ONC by end of Nov.

The exodus from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) continues as Deputy National Coordinator Jacob Reider, MD, made it known that he will depart the agency at the end of November.

His plans were revealed in light of the sudden departure of Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, on Oct. 23 to join the federal government’s Ebola response team. 

Reider joined ONC in September 2011 as a chief medical officer and later assumed the role of deputy national coordinator in January 2014.

In a note to staff, Reider said he committed to his family that he would only keep up his commute from Albany, N.Y., to Washington, D.C., for three years. “I’m a marathon runner– so I have very good stamina-but even marathons have a finish line!” he wrote.

ONC staff are working to ensure a “good transition” and maintenance of “strong clinical leadership” at ONC so the issues that he cares about—decision support, quality improvement, health IT safety and usability—remain priorities at the agency, according to Reider's note.

Reider and DeSalvo are the latest staff to leave ONC. Judy Murphy, former chief nursing officer and director of the Office of Clinical Quality and Safety, left the agency on Oct. 17 for a gig at IBM and Office of the Chief Scientists head Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, announced earlier this month that he would step down on Oct. 31.

Other recent departures include Lygeia Ricciardi, director of the Office of Consumer eHealth, on July 25, and chief privacy officer Joy Pritts on July 12.