About DHHS

Click photo for print quality versionEffective on February 1, 2012, Governor Bev Perdue appointed Al Delia to serve as Acting Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Before joining DHHS, Delia was a valued member of the Governor’s senior staff beginning as Policy Director in 2009. Delia was elevated to Senior Advisor later that same year.

Delia’s in-depth knowledge of North Carolina policy comes from more than 25-years of experience working effectively with boards and advisory groups and collaborating with diverse sets of public and private sector organizations.

From 2006-2009 Secretary Delia was president and CEO of North Carolina’s Eastern Region Development Commission (NCER) in Kinston, NC. He oversaw business recruitment, retention, expansion and creation in a 13-county region. Prior to his work at NCER, Delia worked in North Carolina’s University System, first as Director of the East Carolina University eastern regional office of the Small Business and Technology Development Center, then as Associate State Director of the SBTDC at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Secretary Delia also served for over ten years as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Economic Development and Community Engagement at ECU. He was appointed to that position in 1993 to provide direction and oversight for the University’s units involved in public service and outreach related to economic and community development. In 2004, Delia took on the challenge of creating ECU’s federal relations office, serving as Director of that office, a role that involved working closely with congressional offices and federal agencies.

Secretary Delia is very involved in community affairs. He served on the Executive Board of the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Eastern North Carolina Regional Science Center and founding member of the Global Transpark Development Zone Commission (now North Carolina’s Eastern Region). He was also on the board of Directors of the American Association of Retirement Communities where he served as Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee.

Delia earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Drew University in Madison New Jersey. He is married and has two sons.

Read more on Acting Secretary Delia.

Click photo for print quality versionMichael Watson is Deputy Secretary of Health Services for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services . He was appointed to this crucial post by DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler in May 2010.

As Deputy Secretary, Mike oversees the administrative and policy functions of six divisions and offices within DHHS, including the divisions of public health; mental health/developmental disabilities/substance abuse services; Medicaid; health service regulation; state-operated health facilities; office of rural health.

He joined the Department in 2009 as Assistant Secretary of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services Development. He is the former Chief Executive Officer for Sandhills Center for MH/DD/SAS, with more than 20 years of experience and leadership in developing and operating MH/DD/SAS services on a local and regional level.

Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida, and a Masters degree from Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. He served active duty in the United States Army in Vietnam.

Click photo for print quality versionMaria Spaulding is the deputy secretary for long-term care and family services in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. She oversees the programs and activities of the divisions of Aging and Adult Services, Child Development, Services for the Blind, Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Social Services and Vocational Rehabilitation, as well as the offices of Education Services, Economic Opportunity, Long-Term Services and Supports and Council on Developmental Disabilities. The divisions/offices have an annual combined operating budget total of $2.45 billion and their combined workforce is estimated to be 3,200 employees.

Maria represents the department on various interagency task forces, commissions and workgroups, including the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging and N.C. Workforce Commission. She has more than 35 years of combined state and local county government experience. Mrs. Spaulding was the former executive director of Human Services for Wake County who led the effort to create a single human services agency by combining the departments of Social Services; Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Disability; and Public Health.

(See also the Office of Long Term Services and Supports)

Click photo for print quality version.Dan C. Stewart serves as the Assistant Secretary for Finance and Business Operations with responsibilities over the DHHS support divisions which includes the Controller’s Office, Information Resource Management, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Central Purchasing, Medicaid Management Information Systems, Property and Construction, DMA and DSS Appeals and several smaller offices. Dan has a unique background with over 33 years experience with the State in various progressive management positions in both auditing and administrative activities in three State Departments. He has also worked in public accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Click photo for print quality version.Beth Melcher is the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services Development for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Melcher’s responsibility is to help provide the strategic planning necessary to anticipate the future needs of North Carolina for state-provided treatment care, to increase inpatient capacity for MH/DD/SAS services to those parts of the state where we have already begun providing community care options, and to expand it into the parts of the state where the capacity is lacking.

She provides leadership and oversees the operations of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services and works with the Division of State Operated Health Facilities. Her appointment is in keeping with DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler’s goal of establishing a cadre of top-level management within the agency with direct field experience in dealing with the issues of providing MH/DD/SAS care at the local level.

Melcher, a licensed psychologist, is the former President of Recovery Innovations North Carolina. She was clinical director of The Durham Center, the local management entity (LME) for Durham County. She was a consultant to the N.C. General Assembly’s Legislative Oversight Committee on MH/DD/SAS. Melcher also worked with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) North Carolina and served as its executive director and as public policy director.

Melcher received her Ph. D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh; M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Temple University; B.Ph, Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami University, Oxford Ohio.

Click photo for print quality version.Dr. Steve Cline is the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Health Information Technology for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the North Carolina Health Information Technology (HIT) Program is to facilitate the development of statewide interoperable health information systems that will ultimately improve health and healthcare in North Carolina. Dr. Cline is charged with coordinating HIT efforts across state government and other key stakeholders statewide as well as ensuring consistency with federal policy and initiatives.

Dr. Cline was formerly the Deputy State Health Director in the North Carolina Division of Public Health. He comes to this position with more than 26 years of state and local public health experience. In addition, Dr. Cline served as the Chair of the Governor’s Health Information Technology Strategic Planning Task Force in the spring of 2009. He is a North Carolina native with a B.S. Degree from Davidson College and D.D.S. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.