Jim Macrae was appointed associate administrator for primary health care in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the summer of 2006.

HRSA works to fill in the health care gaps for people who live outside the economic and medical mainstream. HRSA's $7 billion annual budget (FY 2007) expands access to quality health care for all Americans through an array of grants to state and local governments, health care providers and health professions training programs.

As head of the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), Macrae manages a $2 billion budget that supports the health care safety net for many underserved Americans. Most of these funds support more than 4,000 community health centers and clinics, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing primary care centers. Located in communities nationwide, these health centers and clinics provide comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services to more than 15 million people.

Previously, Macrae served as associate administrator for HRSA's Office of Performance Review (OPR) from 2000 to 2006, where he oversaw the work of staff in regional divisions across the country. OPR is the agency's focal point for reviewing and improving the performance of HRSA -supported programs in states and communities.

Prior to his years at OPR, Macrae served in several capacities at BPHC from 1992 to 2000. As the bureau's director of the Office of State and National Partnerships, he worked with national and state associations across the country to increase access, reduce disparities in health outcomes, and improve the delivery of health services to underserved populations.

Before joining HRSA in 1992, Macrae was a Presidential Management Intern at HHS, where he worked on both the Medicare and Medicaid programs as well as in the Secretary's Office of Planning and Evaluation.

Macrae has received numerous awards, including the HRSA Administrator's Award for Excellence (2005), Special Citations for Outstanding Individual (1996) and Group Performance (1996, 1999 and 2001), the National Health Service Corps Recognition Award, (1998) and the BPHC Special Recognition Award for Leadership Award (1994).

Macrae earned his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University, a masters degree in sociology from Duke University, and a masters degree in public policy from Harvard University.

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