Regina Benjamin, MD, a physician who practices family medicine at her clinic in the small town of Bayou La Batre, AL, was nominated yesterday by President Barack Obama as U.S. surgeon general.
In her opening remarks at the White House Rose Garden, Benjamin, 52, reflected on her desire—if confirmed as the surgeon general—to "work toward a solution" to the healthcare crisis. "I promise to communicate directly with the American people to help guide them through whatever changes may come with healthcare reform," she said.
"Public health issues are very personal to me," Benjamin said. She reflected how health issues had impacted her family—how her father with diabetes and hypertension had passed away, how a brother died of an HIV-related illness, and how her mother died of lung cancer after years of smoking.
"My family is not here with me today—at least not in person—because of preventable diseases. While I cannot change my family's past, I can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation's healthcare and our nation's health for the future."
"These are trying times in the healthcare field, and as a nation we have reached a sobering realization: our healthcare system simply cannot continue on the path that we're on," Benjamin said. "Millions of Americans can't afford health insurance or they don't have the basic health services available where they live."
Benjamin has had an opportunity to see firsthand how the lack of insurance and availability of healthcare has impacted individuals, especially in underserved communities, following her medical education at the University of Alabama and Morehouse College.
She spoke about how she returned to Alabama, her home state, as part of her obligation to the National Health Services Corp. "The Corp paid for my medical school education and in return [I went to] an area that desperately needed physicians. I stayed."
She founded a clinic in Bayou La Batre (population 2,500) in 1990. "However it's not been an easy road," she said.
She became the only physician in Bayou La Batre, a town where about 80% of the population lives below the poverty line. Many times, she often treated patients for free or asked them to pay when they can.
The clinic was severely damaged by two hurricanes—Hurricane George in 1998 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Before it was scheduled to reopen in 2006 after repairs, the clinic was destroyed by fire. However, she continued to treat patients at their homes and in area hospitals.
Benjamin, though, has had personal successes. In 1995, she became the first black woman elected to the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees; in 2002, she became the president of the Alabama Medical Association, making her the first African American woman to be president of a state medical society in the U.S.
Last year, Benjamin was one of 25 recipients of the MacArthur Foundation's "Genius" grant, which rewards people who have demonstrated "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits."
"For all that she's seen and all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what's best about healthcare in America—doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients," Obama said yesterday in announcing her nomination.