USA Health sickle cell leader appointed to state regulatory commission
Ardie Pack-Mabien, Ph.D., FNP-BC, joins two other USA Health leaders who recently were named to state healthcare commission roles.
By Michelle Ryan
mryan@health.southalabama.edu
Ardie Pack-Mabien, Ph.D., FNP-BC, the interim director of the Johnson Haynes, Jr., M.D., Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, was recently appointed to a state sickle cell commission that is involved in setting policies and distributing funding for sickle cell treatment centers in Alabama.
“This appointment comes with a huge sense of pride and responsibility as interim director of the sickle cell center, a healthcare provider and advocate for the sickle cell community at USA Health, along the Gulf Coast and surrounding areas,” she said.
Pack-Mabien will serve a four-year term – her first – on the Alabama Sickle Cell Oversight and Regulatory Commission, which governs and regulates funds allocated by the state and distributed among its three sickle cell centers and other community-based organizations, such as the Mobile Chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
“My commitment as a healthcare provider for adult and pediatric patients affected by sickle cell disease (SCD) for more than 27 years here at USA Health deepens my sense of responsibility as a commissioner,” she said. “I am excited about the opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process that could impact the quality of care and lives of individuals with SCD statewide. I am also looking forward to representing our academic health system and advocating for individuals affected by SCD.”
The purpose of the commission is to help ensure the delivery of sickle cell services to affected individuals throughout Alabama, assist in establishing geographical service delivery boundaries, and set guidelines for creating standards of care and managing statewide programs.
In addition, the commission allocates funds appropriated by the state for sickle cell treatment and education, and it is responsible for submitting a consolidated budget and any other financial information required of state agencies.
The Johnson Haynes, Jr., M.D. Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center is one of three centers in Alabama that receive funding from the state. The center uses the funds to provide comprehensive care for the management and treatment of SCD, as well as providing education for patients and their families, the community and healthcare professionals.
A nurse practitioner at the center since 1997, Pack-Mabien specializes in pediatrics and internal medicine. She was named interim director in late 2022, shortly after the passing of Haynes, for whom the center is named.
Pack-Mabien completed her graduate studies at the University of Mobile and post-graduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 2018, she was recognized as the Outstanding Regional Nurse Practitioner for the Bay Area by the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama. In 2014, she was awarded the USA Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Outstanding Service and Recognition Award.
