Hugh Hale

State Leadership of the Year

As CIO of TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, Hugh Hale recently led the creation of a new, highly automated eligibility system. “We’ve made it much easier to apply for benefits,” Hale says. “About 40% of the applications that come in never have to be touched by a human hand.” Serving the state’s “most vulnerable population,” Hale says he strives not only to improve TennCare’s technology, but hire people with “service-oriented hearts.” “When you get the right people in place, you can point that service mentality and service heart toward really innovative ideas to help others,” he says.