I like President Obama's choice for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin

[WI_DEM]

(much better choice than his initial choice)

President Barack Obama turned to the Deep South for the next surgeon general, choosing a rural Alabama family physician who made headlines with fierce determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Regina Benjamin is known along Alabama's impoverished Gulf Coast as a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn't turn away patients who can't pay — even as she's had to find the money to rebuild a clinic repeatedly destroyed by hurricanes and once even fire.

"For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what's best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients," Obama said Monday in introducing his choice for a job known as America's doctor.

Benjamin called the job "a physician's dream," and pledged to be a voice for patients in need — and to fight the preventable diseases that claim too many lives each year, including nearly her entire family.

Her father died with diabetes and high blood pressure, her only brother of HIV, her mother of lung cancer "because as a young girl, she wanted to smoke just like her twin brother could" — an uncle now on oxygen as a result, she noted.

"I cannot change my family's past. I can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation's health care and our nation's health," Benjamin said. "I want to be sure that no one falls through the cracks as we improve our health care system."

Pushed by the need in her own shrimping community of Bayou La Batre, Ala., and its diverse patient mix — white, black and, increasingly immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos — Benjamin, 51, has emerged as a national leader in the call to improve health disparities. She became the first black woman and the first doctor under age 40 elected to the American Medical Association's board of trustees, and in 2002 became the first black woman to head a state medical society.

http://wjz.com/health/obama.surgeon.general.2.1083264.html

[Cha]

1. Oh yeah, me too..Gupta had his

chance..now we get the real thing. I've been telling my family who is traveling around on vacations now ..all about her.

[el_bryanto]

2. I was impressed as well, I admit.

Seems like a really good choice, and a clear message to the medical community.

Bryant

[Crabby Appleton]

3. So do I, much better than the first candidate. nt

[BlooInBloo]

4. Hey Palin - THAT'S what a fighter looks like, you whiny ass titty baby.

[pinto]

5. I really like her as the pick, as well..won the Kaiser Found.'s Nelson Mandela Award in '97 -

(ed for spell)

The Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights

The Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights was instituted in March 1992 by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Award is named for President Mandela in honour of his universal standing as a symbol of struggle for equity and democracy in South Africa and in appreciation of his personal interest in the work of the Foundation.

The idea for the Award arose out of conversations with Mr. Mandela shortly after his release from prison about underscoring the importance of health to South Africa’s future. Mr. Mandela gave his name to the Award and has maintained a close personal interest in it. Mr. Mandela’s idea for the Award was that it should place on a pedestal the efforts of individuals who make extraordinary contributions to improving the health and health care of the most disadvantaged sectors of the population in South Africa and internationally.

Recipients of the Award are nominated by the Foundation in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and approved by Mr. Mandela. Occasionally, special Awards are recommended in recognition of exceptional dedication by extraordinary individuals. Previous recipients of ‘special’ Mandela Awards include:

1997: Dr. Regina Benjamin (USA)
For dedication to serving the health needs of indigent communities on the Gulf Coast of the US.

http://www.kff.org/southafrica/20000829a-index.cfm

[Dennis Donovan]

6. Me too - a real-life, real-time Dr who hasn't been bought off...

:thumbsup:

[csziggy]

7. People here in Tallahassee are excited about her appointment

Obama taps former FAMU trustee to be surgeon general

By Angeline J. Taylor • DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER • July 14, 2009

The Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr. couldn't hide his excitement Monday afternoon after hearing about President Obama's nominee for surgeon general. Obama's pick, Dr. Regina Benjamin, was appointed along with Holmes by former Gov. Jeb Bush in 2001 to be one of Florida A&M's first trustees. Holmes currently serves as trustee vice chairman for the university.

Holmes, pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, described Benjamin as a "beautiful person" who as a trustee was caring, competent and capable. He said he could rely on her to give honest dialogue and direction. Her trustee term ended in 2007. "This is huge for the FAMU community but most important for the whole country," Holmes said. He said Benjamin will focus on "health care for all people."

Her resume appears to back up that observation. Benjamin has emerged as a national leader for improving health disparities, pushed by the need in her own fishing community of Bayou LaBatre, Ala., and its diverse patient mix — where immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos make up a growing part of the population.

"She seemed to be very even handed. She was open and attended all the board meetings," former FAMU nursing professor Pat Tucker said. Tucker said she was happy to see Obama select someone with rural-health experience. It was just a decade ago that the New York Times described Benjamin as an "angel in a white coat," a country doctor who made house calls along the impoverished Gulf Coast.

More: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090714/FAMU/907140313/Obama+taps+former+FAMU+trustee+to+be+surgeon+general

[WI_DEM]

10. that's terrific!

[Hepburn]

8. I am very impressed with her ~~ both as a professional and as a person. n/t

[BOSSHOG]

9. And she's from Bayou Labtre Alabama

made famous by Forrest Gump

[misanthrope]

11. I've met her and she's a fine choice...

...She is a hard worker who cares about people. The icing on the cake is the way the whites/Republicans (believe me, there's a strict corollary down here as one look at the rolls of elected pols will show) are none too pleased.