Lisa Esgar serves as Senior Director of the Operations and Finance Office of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.  Her department administers the State's Medicaid program, the Children's Basic Health Plan, and the Colorado Indigent Care Program.  She is responsible for all budgeting, accounting and information technology systems for a $3.4 billion department.  She has been with the Department since 1996 in a number of positions, including manager of the quality assurance section, Director of Health Care Programs, and Budget Director. 

She held prior positions at Oregon Medicaid, CHAMPUS, and residential treatment centers.  She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the National Honor Society of Nursing.  Her initial background is in nursing, primarily in mental health care for adolescents.  Ms. Esgar received both her bachelors and masters degrees in nursing from Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma.