Organizational Intelligence · MMT Premium
Indian Health Service
Leadership and Contracting Organization
Current as of October 19, 2026
• Director: Mark Cruz (confirmed Aug 7, 2026)
• Sources: ihs.gov/aboutihs/keyleaders · ihs.gov/DAP/staff · ihs.gov/oms/staff
← IHS profile
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IHS has a confirmed Director again. Mark Cruz (Klamath Tribes) was Senate-confirmed August 7, 2026 as the 12th IHS Director, ending roughly 18 months without one. The bench under him is thin: 6 of 12 Area Director seats are Acting, two headquarters offices are Vacant, and the DAP staff page shows multiple open contracting officer positions. For contractors, the load-bearing facts are lower down: CIO Mitchell Thornbrugh owns the PATH EHR modernization (GDIT integrator, Oracle Health EHR, Lawton pilot go-live 2026), and Chantel Smith remains the permanent Head of Contracting Activity.
Director · Senate-Confirmed
Mark Cruz
Director, Indian Health Service (12th Director)
Confirmed Aug 7, 2026 · previously Tribal Senior Advisor to the HHS Secretary
Deputy
Benjamin Smith
Deputy Director
Chief of Staff
Clayton W. Fulton
Chief of Staff · Delegated Authority of the IHS Director
Management Ops
Darrell LaRoche
Deputy Director for Management Operations
Medicine
Loretta Christensen, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Field Ops
Beverly Cotton
Deputy Director for Field Operations
Rear Adm. Kelly Battese, Deputy Director for Field Operations, Southern Tier · Capt. Joe Bryant, Acting Deputy Director for Field Operations (both seats were listed Vacant on Aug 25, 2026)
Intergov & External
Stacey Ecoffey
Deputy Director for Intergovernmental and External Affairs
Quality
Michelle Boylan
Deputy Director for Quality Healthcare and Enterprise Risk Management
Office of Quality Director: Dr. Lisa Majewski
Strategic Initiatives
Kim Hartwig
Director of Strategic Initiatives
New on the Key Leaders page since Aug 25, 2026
Health IT · PATH EHR
Mitchell Thornbrugh
CIO · Director, Office of Information Technology (OIT)
Owns the RPMS replacement: PATH EHR · GDIT integrator, Oracle Health EHR · pilot at Lawton Service Unit, go-live 2026
Management · Parent of Acquisitions
Santiago Almaraz
Director, Office of Management Services (OMS)
Deputy: Evonne Bennett · the acquisition chain runs Director → OMS → DAP
Finance
Jillian Curtis
Director, Office of Finance and Accounting
Resource Access
Cmdr. Tracy Sanchez
Acting Director, Office of Resource Access and Partnerships
Acting
Environmental Health
Capt. Martin L. Smith, RS, MPH
Director, Office of Environmental Health and Engineering
Clinical Services
Vijay Kannan, MD, MPH
Acting Director, Office of Clinical and Preventive Services
Acting
Public Health
Robert Pittman
Acting Director, Office of Public Health Support
Rear Adm. Francis Frazier was listed as Director on Aug 25, 2026
Acting
Self-Determination
Rena Macy
Acting Director, Office of Indian Self-Determination and Self-Governance
Acting
External Affairs
VACANT
Director, Office of External Affairs
Open Role
Tribal & Urban Affairs
VACANT
Director, Office of Tribal and Urban Affairs
Open Role
HCA · Permanent
Chantel Smith
Director, Division of Acquisition Policy (DAP) · Head of Contracting Activity
Verified live Oct 19, 2026 on the DAP staff page, the OMS staff page and the HHS HCA roster · Chantel.Smith@ihs.gov
Deputy Director
Jeffrey Johnston
Deputy Director, DAP
As of Oct 19, 2026 the DAP staff page lists Johnston as Deputy Director and Magdalenda Hudson as Senior Technical Advisor and Ombudsman, while the OMS staff page lists Sean Long as Acting Deputy Director, DAP, and no longer lists Hudson. The two IHS pages disagree; this chart keeps Johnston per the DAP page, the division's own roster.
Field Contracting
12 Area Chiefs of the Contracting Office
Named per-Area on the DAP staff page, plus a Division of Engineering Services contracting chief
5 DAP headquarters seats listed vacant on Oct 19, 2026 (3 Contracting Officers, 1 Team Lead/Contracting Officer, 1 Staff Assistant) · Bemidji Chief of the Contracting Office marked Acting
The Area picture: 12 Areas (Alaska, Albuquerque, Bemidji, Billings, California, Great Plains, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland, Tucson). As of Oct 19, 2026, the same six Area Director seats are Acting: Alaska (Lyle J. Claw), Bemidji (Cmdr. Craig Morin), Billings (Asha Petoskey), Nashville (Joni Lyon), Oklahoma City (Travis Scott), and Phoenix (Dixie Gaikowski, who is simultaneously the permanent Tucson Area Director). Permanent: Albuquerque (Leonard Thomas, MD), California (Beverly Miller), Great Plains (Joe Amiotte), Navajo (DuWayne Begay), Portland (Rear Adm. Marcus Martinez, PE).