News is filtering out of DC this morning that the President has scheduled an 11:40AM news conference to announce the appointment of Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General. Dr. Benjamin is the CEO/founder of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama and a widely respected advocate for health care for the underprivileged among us.
From Reuters:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has selected Dr. Regina Benjamin, an Alabama family physician, as the U.S. surgeon general, an administration official said on Monday.
Obama was to announce Benjamin as the top authority on U.S. medical matters at a Rose Garden ceremony at 11:40 a.m. EDT/1540 GMT, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Quick factoids:
Current Former (sorry...bad source) president of the Alabama state medical association
Former Associate Dean for Rural Health at the University of South Alabama's College of Medicine
Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians
Former Kellogg National Fellow
Awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2008.
Educational background:
Regina Benjamin received a B.S. (1979) from Xavier University of Louisiana, attended Morehouse School of Medicine from 1980 to 1982, and received an M.D. (1984) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; she also holds an M.B.A. (1991) from Tulane University. She completed her residency in family practice at the Medical Center of Central Georgia (1987). The CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic since its founding in 1990, Benjamin has also served as the associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama’s College of Medicine and as president of the State of Alabama Medical Association (2002-2003).
Member of:
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Catholic Health East, Medical Association of the State of Alabama, Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, Alabama State Committee of Public Health, Mobile County Medical Society, Alabama Rural Health Association, Leadership Alabama, Mobile Area Red Cross, Mercy Medical, Mobile Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Mobile, and Deep South Girl Scout Council.
I remember reading an article about Dr. Benjamin shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Bayou La Batre was devastated by the hurricane, and Dr. Benjamin performed some serious heroics in getting her clinic back up and running to serve the hurricane ravaged community. She makes house calls, too!
UPDATE: Here's the article in question. This woman is a living saint, basically. Good luck to any Republicans who try to trifle with her.
Good call, Mr. President.