Obama Names Dr. Regina Benjamin for Surgeon General
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Dr. Regina Benjamin, a winner of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius grant”, and a committed rural doctor who has served the poor in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, spending her own money to provide care for those who could not afford it, has been named by Pres. Obama to serve as surgeon general of the United States. Her nomination was announced in a live event at the White House, with Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius in attendance.
Dr. Benjamin has had to rebuild her rural healthcare clinic three times, including after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. She was the youngest doctor and first African American woman to head the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, and a winner of the Nelson Mandela Prize for Health and Human Rights. Pres. Obama focused heavily on the work of achieving comprehensive healthcare reform that will allow all Americans to afford and obtain quality healthcare, an issue he said Dr. Benjamin was eminently qualified to address.
CBS, reporting on her MacArthur grant award, noted her work to rebuild the Bayou La Batre clinic:
Dr. Regina Benjamin said the money will help rebuild her rural health clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., which serves 4,400 patients. It was rebuilt by volunteers after being destroyed by Katrina, only to burn down months later.
“The patients came by and they were crying,” said Benjamin, 51, remembering one woman who handed her an envelope with a $7 donation to rebuild. The new clinic is about half-built, she said.
Pres. Obama said she mortgaged her home and “maxed out her credit cards” to find funding to rebuild the clinic, and even went as far as to pay herself for the treatment her poor patients needed, when they couldn’t pay themselves. Obama reiterated again today his pledge that comprehensive healthcare reform and cost-reduction would not add to the federal budget deficit over the next ten years. He urged Congress to act to pass legislation by the end of this year.
The Washington Post highlighted Dr. Benjamin’s achievements and the president’s desire that she help the administration achieve legislation to reform the nation’s healthcare system and reduce costs:
Benjamin has also served as the first black woman to head the State of Alabama Medical Association and was associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama’s College of Medicine.
Obama announced her his intent to nominate her at a Rose Garden event this morning in which he also spoke of the challenges and need for health care reform. “I understand people are a little nervous and a little scared about making change. You know, the muscles in this town to bring about big changes are a little atrophied, but we’re whipping folks back into shape. We are going to get this done,” the president said.
Obama’s own high-profile use of media to explain and press his agenda for reform suggests he will favor giving the surgeon general a “bully pulpit” like that effected by C. Everett Koop, perhaps the best known surgeon general, who led the nation’s public policy push in the 1980s to prevent Americans from starting or continuing a smoking habit.
The White House’s own release notes that “Dr. Benjamin was previously named by Time Magazine as one of the ‘Nation’s 50 Future Leaders Age 40 and Under.’” Dr. Benjamin expressed her belief that major healthcare reform and work to curb the impact of preventable diseases could not wait. She said the nomination was “a doctor’s dream” and gave an emotional account of her personal knowledge of the system’s deepest flaws.
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