Montana Health Department Director Stepping Down for Private-Sector Job
Charlie Brereton will leave the agency at the end of October; state medical officer Dr. Doug Harrington will succeed him as director.
By Zoë Buhrmaster
The director of Montana’s largest state agency, the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), is stepping down from his position at the end of October for a job in the private sector.
Charlie Brereton, 31, has led DPHHS since 2022, after serving as the agency’s chief of staff and as Gov. Greg Gianforte’s health care policy advisor. Gianforte has tapped the department’s state medical officer, Dr. Doug Harrington, to serve as director beginning in November.
“It has been a great honor to serve Montanans as director of DPHHS,” Brereton said in a prepared statement. “Few roles offer such an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, and I am proud of the progress our team has made across every aspect of the department and throughout Montana’s health and human services system. I am confident that the dedicated public servants of DPHHS will continue carrying our initiatives forward under Governor Gianforte’s leadership.”
The press release announcing Brereton’s departure declined to specify what private-sector job he is taking.
Before joining DPHHS, Brereton worked as a policy staffer in Washington, D.C., including on the health policy team for the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
At the state health department, Brereton oversaw a $7 billion budget and roughly 3,000 employees. Last year, the agency’s application to a federal rural-health program through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) received the fourth-largest grant of all 50 states that applied; Montana is expected to receive up to $1.2 billion over the program’s five years.
Brereton also restructured services within the agency, establishing a dedicated health care facilities management division, expanding bed capacity at residential psychiatric treatment facilities, and upgrading the agency’s IT systems.
“Charlie Brereton has been a transformational leader for [DPHHS],” Gianforte said. “From starting as a policy advisor for health care to leading Montana’s largest agency, he has truly left a mark. Under Charlie’s leadership, Montana has made historic investments in our broken behavioral health system, secured significant, transformational funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program, and helped make Montanans more self-sufficient. I wish Charlie great success in the future and thank him for his service to the State of Montana.”
The announcement follows the Department of Transportation director’s departure last month for a similar private-sector opportunity.
Harrington brings more than 40 years in medicine to the role. He trained in disease and hematology, worked on one of the first heart transplant team, founded a clinical molecular biology laboratory, and worked as president of the Nichols Institute, a specialty testing arm of Quest Diagnostics. He holds multiple patents in cancer cell analysis and cardiac diagnostics, and developed a blood test that uses protein biomarkers to assess chronic metabolic and vascular-related health conditions.
“Having been born and raised in Montana, I am honored to accept this new role and to serve the people of Montana as a member of Governor Gianforte’s team,” Harrington said. “Charlie Brereton has delivered real results for our state, and I look forward to building on that foundation to strengthen the health, safety, and well-being of Montanans.”