FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – medical school faculty member has been hired as the new medical director for the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services.

Dr. Gil Liu’s appointment was announced Tuesday by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Liu is a Louisville pediatrician and a faculty member at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

State Health and Family Services Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson says Liu will play a key role in providing oversight and directing clinical decisions to guide the state’s Medicaid program and improve delivery of services.

The Medicaid program provides health coverage for more than one million Kentuckians.

Liu also founded the Kentucky Pediatric Alliance for Transforming Children’s Healthcare, a learning collaborative to improve health-care quality for publicly insured children in the Louisville metro area.