Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) lost a trusted policy adviser last week when Bill Wichterman was snapped up by the government affairs practice group Covington and Burling, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm.

As policy adviser to Frist, Wichterman played a vital role in shaping legislative strategy, developing policy stances on a broad range of issues and coordinating committee activity on the Senate floor.

During Wichterman’s 18-year career on Capitol Hill, he has also served as chief of staff to Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) and then-Rep. Bill Baker (R-Calif.).

Officials at Covington and Burling say they are excited to add an experienced Congressional staffer with vast expertise in the areas of health care, intellectual property, litigation reform and tax policy. Wichterman is also fluent in German and conversant in Turkish.

“We are very pleased to have Bill join the firm,” said Martin Gold, co-chairman of Covington and Burling’s government affairs practice group. “His distinguished career on Capitol Hill and his deep knowledge of the legislative process will make him an important addition to our government affairs practice.”

“Covington has an impressive record of success on behalf of its clients,” Wichterman said. “I look forward to joining Covington’s established practice and working with the firm’s many talented lawyers and advisers.”

Wichterman graduated magna cum laude from Houghton College in 1986. He earned his master’s degree in 1993 from Catholic University of America, graduating summa cum laude.

Gingrey Hires Two, Promotes Another. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) has announced some staff changes to his Washington, D.C., office. [IMGCAP(1)]

Gingrey has selected Jenifer Healy to join his staff as a legislative assistant. In this role, Healy will handle health care for Gingrey, who besides being a Congressman is also a licensed Ob/Gyn physician. Healy has worked on Capitol Hill before, for Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.). Over the last two years, however, she has been on the staff of Astrazeneca pharmaceuticals. Healy graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

David Sours, previously Gingrey’s staff assistant, has earned a promotion to legislative correspondent. Sours, a native of Sandy Springs, Ga., and a graduate of the College of William and Mary, had been serving as staff assistant since January of this year.

Replacing Sours as staff assistant is another new hire, Victoria Collins, who volunteered on a Gingrey campaign while in college and was an assistant in Gingrey’s Marietta, Ga., district office over the past summer. Collins is a graduate of Georgia State University.