Personnel note: Liz Dudek to Greenberg Traurig

Liz Dudek, who retired earlier this month as secretary of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, is joining the Greenberg Traurig law firm as its director of Healthcare Affairs.

“I am thrilled to be adding a well-respected health care professional like Liz to Greenberg Traurig’s team here in Tallahassee,” said Fred Baggett, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office.

“Her extensive experience in the public sector will complement our existing practice as we continue to grow,” he added. “As a leader in the regulation of health care for many years, her distinctive knowledge and expertise are unsurpassed.”

Gov. Rick Scott first appointed Dudek secretary of AHCA — which has a roughly $20 billion yearly budget — in March 2011, according to the agency’s website. She was renominated by Scott for the job and again confirmed by the Senate this February.

Among other things, the agency administers the state’s Medicaid program and oversees licensing of Florida’s 45,000 health care facilities. She was first hired by the state Dec. 1, 1974, records show.

Dudek’s vast knowledge of the federal-state health care system made her a shoo-in for a lucrative consulting job. She is not subject to the state’s two-year ban on lobbying by former state agency employees because she was hired before July 2, 1989, according to state law.

She served in a succession of positions in the agency: bureau chief of Certificate of Need/Budget Review, bureau chief of Health Facility Compliance, assistant deputy secretary of Managed Care and Health Quality, and deputy secretary of the Division of Health Quality Assurance.

As secretary, she was paid $141,000, according to the state’s salary database.

“By joining Greenberg Traurig, I know I am joining a team that places integrity and professionalism above all else,” Dudek said in a statement.

“Given the firm’s integral role in a wide variety of key issues, I look forward to the opportunity to expand my career in new areas that will challenge me and provide growth opportunities,” she said. “I am pleased that in this new position, I will be able to nurture the relationships I have formed throughout my career and continue to help improve health care in Florida.”

Editor’s Note: This version corrects an earlier post that misstated Dudek’s coverage by a lobbying ban in state law.