Surgeon General Regina Benjamin
What a resume: M.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1984; M.B.A. from Tulane University in 1991; founder and CEO of Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic, Bayou La Batre, Alabama; received the coveted MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant in 2008; became the first black woman and youngest doctor ever admitted to the American Medical Association’s board of trustees.
President Obama’s choice for the position of Surgeon General is Dr. Regina Benjamin, a super hero to many of the patients she has served.
The president stated that Dr. Benjamin is a woman who knows firsthand about the tribulations of the uninsured poor. He added that, “When people couldn’t pay, she didn’t charge them. When the clinic wasn’t making money, she didn’t take a salary for herself. When Hurricane George destroyed the clinic in 1998, she made house calls to all her patients while it was rebuilt. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed it again and left most of her town homeless, she mortgaged her house and maxed out her credit cards to rebuild that clinic for a second time.”
Becoming the nation’s chief public health advocate is very personal to Dr. Benjamin after having watched her brother die at age 34 of HIV-AIDS, her mom die of lung cancer and her dad die of complications related to diabetes.
Fundamentally, however, President Obama is counting on the person he has selected to become the next Surgeon General to be both ombudsman and top advocate for his health care reform plan.
Benjamin survived “floods and fires and severe want” and “refused to give up,” the president said.
Obama said he now wants her to help him flex some muscle in getting a national health care system in place.
While many may not agree with the President’s health care program, most will concur that Dr. Benjamin is a person of dedication, quality, accomplishment, and is an outstanding choice to become the nation’s next Surgeon General.
