Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the principal federal agency that oversees health issues; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is part of the HHS. The predecessor of HHS, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was created in 1953 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration. In 1979, legislation established a separate Department of Education, and on May 4, 1980, HEW became HHS. HEW/HHS played a central key role in many of the deliberations, both for and against, that ultimately led to passage of the Bayh-Dole legislation in December 1980.