Founder, GwenCo Health, Former Lead Advocacy Relations Bayer Women’s Healthcare
Gwen Mayes is the Founder and Chief Concept Officer for GwenCo Health, a health care consulting business focused on building the skills and knowledge patients need to serve in policy development. As a Patient Story Coach, Gwen leads PREP – Presentation Review for Expert Patients – to assist industry and patient advocacy organizations with preparing patients for advocacy on a national level.
Immediately prior, Gwen led Advocacy Relations for Bayer Women’s Healthcare (2013-2019). Prior she was the EVP of Policy for the National Patient Advocacy Foundation (2010-2013) during the passage of the Affordable Care Act. A cardio-thoracic Physician Assistant by training, Mayes began her career at Emory University where she led the organ procurement efforts for the establishment of Emory University’s cardiac transplant program. From 1988-1998, Mayes held several positions with the US Department of Health and Human Services, including the Surgeon General’s Office and the HRSA Office on Organ Transplantation. Returning to her native state, Kentucky, she served as the first Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Women’s Physical and Mental Health for the Commissioner of Public Health (2000-2003). Upon returning to Washington, DC, she served as the first Director of Government Affairs and Reimbursement for Abiomed, an innovator in cardiac device support (2005-2010).
Gwen currently serves as a WomenHeart (National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease) Champion and is a lifelong patient living with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She is also currently a member of the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Patient and Caregiver Committee, NQF’s Cardiovascular Measurement Development Committee, the Society for Improvement in Diagnosis in Medicine’s PCORI grant for assessment of telemedicine, and the American Heart Association’s Scientific Advisory Group for Professional Education for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Gwen has been a freelance writer since 2000; her clients include the Center for Medical Technology Policy, Medscape, Transplant News, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Applied Policy, and Healthy Women. Mayes received her AB in Biology and Pre-Medical Studies from Transylvania University, her MMSc in Intensive Respiratory Care from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and her JD with honor in Healthcare from the University of Maryland. She is a resident of Annapolis, Maryland.