CMS CIO Patrick Newbold Exits Federal Service After Seven Years

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CIO Patrick Newbold leaves federal service on Nov. 27, ending a seven-year federal career and roughly one year as the agency's top technology official. Newbold announced the departure in an email to staff obtained by Federal News Network. He did not disclose his next role.

Mark Plaugher, director of the information systems group at CMS, will serve as acting CIO until the agency names a permanent replacement. Plaugher joined the CIO's office on Nov. 2. He has spent more than 15 years at CMS and previously worked inside the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and in senior leadership roles across the agency.

Newbold endorsed the appointment directly. He wrote in the staff email: "Mark brings extensive CMS experience, a deep understanding of our mission, and a strong record of leadership."

What changes at the top of CMS IT?

The leadership shuffle extends beyond the acting appointment. CMS recently hired Brian Peltier as deputy director of the Office of IT. Peltier previously served as deputy CIO and head of technology, customer data and AI at the Social Security Administration.

Newbold also promoted Shauntia Bell to director of the Enterprise Systems Solutions Group. Bell has 14 years at CMS, including the last seven as director of the Division of Enterprise Services.

Newbold joined CMS as CIO in November 2024. Before that, he held posts at NASA, the Social Security Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers, where he served as deputy CIO. He also spent three years on the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board, the panel that selects which federal IT projects receive central investment funding.

What did Newbold deliver at CMS?

His tenure centered on infrastructure modernization and applied artificial intelligence. Newbold led efforts to upgrade legacy infrastructure and deploy AI tools to mission areas, including fraud prevention.

CMS launched the Office of Health Technology and Products (OHTP) in June to complement the CIO's office. OHTP focuses on citizen services, while the CIO's office retains responsibility for infrastructure and technology strategy.

The flagship program ran through the General Services Administration's OneGov contract vehicle. CMS modernized its cloud infrastructure under a deal with AWS, starting with a mission-critical contact center migration out of a legacy data center.

Newbold detailed the results on LinkedIn in August. He wrote: "We needed to move a mission-critical contact center out of a legacy data center and into the cloud. The result: 46% savings on that workload!"

The agency did not stop at one agreement. CMS now holds 16 OneGov cloud agreements covering 11 mission areas, from beneficiary customer relationship management and claims modernization to payment integrity.

Newbold framed each contract as more than a technology migration. He described it as shifting workloads from costly, constrained legacy infrastructure to secure, scalable cloud operations.

What happens during the transition?

Newbold pledged continuity through his final weeks. He wrote: "While leadership transitions are a natural part of any organization, our mission remains unchanged. The work we are doing to strengthen cybersecurity, modernize critical systems, responsibly advance AI, and deliver reliable technology services across CMS is too important to lose momentum."

He committed to staying fully engaged in agency priorities until his departure and supporting the leadership team. Newbold said he would share further details as Nov. 27 approaches.

Reflecting on his tenure, Newbold wrote: "Serving as your CIO and director [of the Office of Information Technology] has been one of the great privileges of my career. Together, we have navigated complex challenges, strengthened our technology foundation, accelerated innovation and demonstrated what is possible when talented people come together around a shared mission."

He added that he was proud of what the organization accomplished and, more importantly, of the people responsible.

The agency has not announced a timeline for hiring a permanent CIO. Plaugher assumes acting leadership with deep institutional knowledge and an active portfolio of 16 cloud agreements in flight.