Washington Post hires Gilbert to cover the business of medicine

Washington Post business editor Lori Montgomery, deputy business editor Damian Paletta and business assignment editor Sandhya Somashekhar sent out the following on Tuesday:

We are thrilled to announce that Daniel Gilbert will be joining The Post to cover the business of medicine, a new beat exploring how pharmaceutical firms, health-technology companies and medical-device makers are shaping the next generation of treatments, exerting influence in Washington and making their mark on consumers.

Daniel comes to us from the Seattle Times, where he spent the last seven years as an investigative reporter specializing in medical and mental health care. Among his most high-impact work, Daniel broke stories on a deadly mold outbreak at a children’s hospital, revealed delays in disciplining medical professionals for misconduct and produced a project on the rise of for-profit psychiatric hospitals that inspired state lawmakers to enact a new law to protect patient safety.

Daniel earlier covered fracking and Big Oil for the Wall Street Journal in Houston for five years, chronicling the decline of industry giants and writing such memorable stories as then-Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson’s crusade against a water tower near his home. Daniel previously was a staff writer for the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier, where his investigation into the mismanagement of natural-gas royalties owed to landowners in southwestern Virginia earned the newspaper the 2010 Pulitzer for Public Service.

Daniel is the founder of the Fund for Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting at the University of Kentucky, which helps pay for journalists at small news organizations to receive data training from the nonprofit Investigative Reporters & Editors. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in international studies.

Joining The Post is a homecoming for Daniel, a native of Manassas whose first job in journalism was as a reporter for the Potomac News and its Spanish-language weekly, Centro de Prince William. Daniel will move to the D.C. area with his wife and their two young sons in the new year.

Please join us in welcoming Daniel to The Post. His first day is Nov. 14.