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William Hudson has over 15 years of healthcare management- public health leadership experience and serves as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer (COO/ CFO) for Harris County Public Health- the local health agency for Harris County, Texas, the 3rd most populous county in the United States. His primary responsibility includes ensuring the strategic financial and operational position of the $135 million-dollar enterprise with direct oversight of Human Resources, Financial Services, Operations, Strategy & Innovation, Capital Projects, and Project & Business Information Technology. His experience in each of these areas brings a unique level of breadth and understanding to the organization.
Prior to his promotion to COO/CFO, he served as the agency’s Director for Health Transformation and Director of the Public Health Innovations Lab at Harris County Public Health. In his previous roles, he was responsible for the operational oversite and strategy of the departments enterprise Medicaid Project Portfolio, Federal (OPA) Family Planning and Reproductive Health programming, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, and the Public Health Innovation Incubator/Accelerator Program.
William’s love and aptitude for science, business, and community has strategically positioned him to make and sustain meaningful change not only locally, but globally. Most recently, in September of 2020, after four years of working alongside of robotics and Artificial Intelligence experts from Microsoft and Departmental Entomology/ Surveillance experts, under William’s operational leadership, Harris County Public Health began building out one of the most advanced biothreat detection networks in the world through an expanded multiyear partnership with Microsoft. This partnership will provide the Six Million residents of Harris County with an advance early warning system that combines robotic sensing platforms, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and cloud-scale metagenomics to autonomously monitor disease-carrying animals such as mosquitoes, robotically collect environmental samples, and then genomically scan them for biological threats that could potentially prevent the next COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, William worked with Harris County Leadership to ensure a multi-million dollar renovation of the abandoned Riverside Hospital (Houston Hospital for Negros) campus ( two blocks from Texas Southern) which is inclusive of the relocation of the Harris County Public Health Department as the Anchor tenant, to ensure long term preservation of this historic site.
William received his Master of Public Health (MPH) and a Master of Management in Organizational Behavior (MSMOB) from Benedictine University, and a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Texas Southern University. William was a recipient of the prestigious Louis Stokes Alliance Participation (LSAMP) Scholarship and Fredrick Douglass Scholarship. William was also a world renown debater on the Texas Southern Debate Team under the Late Dr. Thomas F. Freeman from 2001-2004. William is currently completing a Master in Business Administration (MBA) in Entrepreneurship from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Moody School of Business.
In addition to his formal education, William has completed executive education programs from the Harvard Business School- Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, MIT Sloan School of Management, University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a Fellow of the Academy for Healthcare Management, Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, a National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), Board Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), and a member of the Forbes Business Development Council, an invitation only organization for senior business executives.
He also holds additional certifications and professional memberships with the United States Health and Human Services- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), American College of Healthcare Executives, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Aside from his primary role with Harris County Public Health, William holds multiple advisory roles with notable institutions such as the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute, Station Houston Innovation Center, and numerous regional and national health management and health tech organizations. Additionally, he is a graduate program evaluator for the Western Governors University Graduate Health Leadership Program, an adjunct faculty member in the Texas Southern University- Barbara Jordan- Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, and was recently asked to serve on the Texas Southern University Urban Public Health Innovation Institute Planning Committee.
In addition to being a pillar of the community, William is a dedicated husband of a beautiful wife and TSU alumni, and a loving father of two gorgeous daughters, one whom is currently a Junior at TSU. William is definitely a ‘girl dad’ for sure!! Not only is he an awesome father to his daughters, he’s a great male figure to most women in his life. His ability to listen, encourage, respect, and give great advice alone makes him a great person to know and learn from.