"I've selected a very seasoned and competent team of professionals to help guide the work of the department," Leavitt said in a statement.

Rich McKeown will serve as Leavitt's chief of staff, a position he held in the latter years of Leavitt's tenure as Utah governor and as administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Natalie Gochnour, who worked in the then-governor's Office of Planning and Budget and then as spokeswoman for Leavitt as governor and EPA administrator, will serve as a counselor on communication and policy matters.

Leavitt also named Kerry Weems, a veteran budget official in the department, as deputy chief of staff; Jennifer Young as an acting senior policy adviser on Medicaid, Medicare and public health matters; William F. Raub as acting counselor for science policy; and Richard M. Campanelli as acting counselor for human service policy.

Leavitt first announced that McKeown, a former Democrat, would be the chief of staff the night he was formally confirmed by the Senate in a reception with HHS staffers in January.