Appointed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Kathy H. Kliebert became secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals in March 2013 after a long-term career in public service in Louisiana. She has been a leader in the Department for more than 25 years, where she has led efforts to promote independent living for individuals with developmental disabilities and transform behavioral health care services for hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents. Prior to her appointment as Secretary, Kliebert served as the Department’s Deputy Secretary, where she provided leadership to the agency’s program offices, including the Offices for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Health, Public Health, and Aging and Adult Services. She also served as the coordinator for DHH's Human Services Interagency Council (HSIC) which convenes the state’s local governing entities that provide developmental disability and behavioral health services.

Prior to her appointment as Deputy Secretary in 2011, Kliebert led the Office of Behavioral Health, where she managed the merger of the Department’s mental health and addictive disorders offices to better serve Louisianians in need. She spearheaded the development and implementation of Louisiana’s new approach to both delivering and financing behavioral health services for approximately one million Louisiana children and adults through a fully integrated, single-point-of-entry system.

Kliebert has dedicated the bulk of career to serving individuals with developmental disabilities through the Department’s Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD), which she led as Assistant Secretary for six years. During her tenure, OCDD successfully completed a multi-year transition to move individuals out of institutions and into community-based services, reducing the number of individuals living in institutions by more than 26 percent. Prior to leading the office, Kliebert was diversification director of the Metropolitan/Peltier-Lawless Development Centers in New Orleans and Thibodaux, where she led the expansion of community-based options for people with developmental disabilities. She has over 20 years of experience as a licensed clinical social worker and has a master's degree in social work. She also serves as Secretary of the Louisiana Educational Television Board and as a member of the Louisiana Children’s Cabinet.