KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A registered nurse and former congressional candidate from northeastern Kansas has been chosen to head a four-state region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Department Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the appointment of Stephene Moore as director of HHS Region 7 on Thursday. The region covers Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Moore, of Lenexa, KS,has been a senior adviser at HHS for the past year. She is the wife of Dennis Moore, a Democrat who spent six terms in the U.S. House representing Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. Stephene Moore won the Democratic nomination to succeed her husband in 2010 but lost the general election to Republican Kevin Yoder.