Acting PA Health Secretary to Deliver Keynote at Salus University Commencement

Alison Beam, Acting Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will be the keynote speaker at Salus University’s 123rd commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

Salus president Michael H. Mittelman, OD ’80, MPH, MBA, FAAO, FACHE, recently presented Beam with the University’s Doctor of Laws honorary degree.

Appointed Acting Secretary of Health by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Beam has experience advising and supporting key healthcare priorities, such as stabilizing and sustaining the health insurance markets, increasing access to healthcare for all Pennsylvanians, and ensuring the high caliber of healthcare delivered in the commonwealth continues. 

Prior to her appointment, Beam served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Wolf, where she coordinated policy development, fiscal and legal management, legislative initiatives and communications and stakeholder engagement across Pennsylvania’s departments of Health, Human Services, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Aging and Insurance. Prior to transitioning to the Governor’s Office, she served as the Chief of Staff to the Insurance Commissioner. 

She also previously served as the Director of Public Policy and Associate Counsel for Independence Health Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she guided interactions with regulators, legislators and national trade associations and developed and implemented internal response strategies. 

Beam graduated from Drexel University School of Law in 2013. Before embarking on law school, she was a Senior Consultant at McBee Associates, a healthcare consulting firm in Manhattan, New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Administration from Penn State University.