People in the news

Regina Benjamin

U.S. Surgeon General

(TWP)

Why She Matters

In Benjamin, a primary-care physician that has made a career of serving the uninsured and underinsured in rural Alabama, President Obama found his model doctor. During the 2009-2010 health-reform debates, Benjamin served as both a shining example of a family doc who wasn't in it for the money and a potent reminder of how hard it could be for the poor to receive quality health care in America.

Benjamin spent her career as a primary-care physician, the family doctors whose pay has been dwindling for the past two decades. The president's reform plans relied heavily on primary care physicians to coordinate care, and included incentives for young medical students to enter the shrinking field.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: CEO, Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic (1990 to 2009); Family Physician (1987 to 1990)
Birthday: Oct. 26, 1956
Hometown: Daphne, Ala.

Alma Mater: Xavier University, B.S., 1979; University of Alabama School of Medicine, M.D., 1984
Religion: Catholic

Path to Power

Benjamin grew up in rural Daphne, Ala., near Mobile. Her father died with diabetes and hypertension when Benjamin was nine-years-old. Her mother worked as a waitress and a maid to make ends meet.

Benjamin earned a B.S. from Xavier University in New Orleans in 1979.

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After college, Benjamin won a National Health Services Corps scholarship to pay for her medical education. As part of the scholarship, Benjamin pledged to work in underserved areas after completing her medical education: one year of work for every year of tuition paid.

Benjamin was in the second class to begin study at the medical school at Morehouse University, a historically- black college in Atlanta.

The medical school's founding dean, Dr. Louis Sullivan, became a mentor to Benjamin. Sullivan would go on to become Health and Human Services secretary under George H.W. Bush.

Morehouse had an agreement with the University of Alabama School of Medicine, and Benjamin completed her third and fourth year rotations at the school in Birmingham, Ala. She earned her M.D. in 1984.

Benjamin went on to a three-year residency in family medicine at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Ga.

After completing her residency in 1987, Benjamin returned to southern Alabama as a part of her agreement with the National Health Services Corps.

Family Medical Practice

She started her own family medical practice in Bayou La Batre, a rural fishing village with a population of just over 2,000. About 20 percent of the racially diverse residents live below the poverty line, and about 40 percent are without health insurance.

Benjamin cared for all patients regardless of their ability to pay for her services. She took whatever payment her patients could offer, including oysters and shrimp. To pay the bills, Benjamin moonlighted in emergency rooms all along the Gulf Coast.

After fulfilling her commitment to the National Health Services Corps, Benjamin stayed on in Bayou La Batre.

With her practice in danger of going bankrupt, Benjamin enrolled in business school. She received an M.B.A. from Tulane University in 1991.

Rural Health Clinic

In 1990, Benjamin converted her family medical practice into the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic, of which she is CEO.

In 1995, Benjamin became the youngest person ever to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. Not only was she the only person under 40 ever on the board, she was also the first African-American woman.

In 1998, Hurricane Georges devastated southern Alabama, destroying Benjamin's clinic. She made house calls in her pickup truck until the clinic was rebuilt.

That same year, Benjamin received the Nelson Mandela award for Health and Human Rights.

Alabama AMA President

From 2002 to 2003, Benjamin took the role of president of the State of Alabama Medical Association, making her the first black woman to head a state medical society

Hurricane Katrina

In the fall of 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Benjamin's clinic once again. After the hurricane, Benjamin and her staff salvaged patient records, laying them in the sun to dry.

Benjamin got in her pickup truck and made house calls once again, until, relying mostly on volunteer work and donations, they rebuilt the clinic and planned a Jan. 2, 2006 re-opening.

But on New Years' Day 2006, the clinic was gutted in an unexplained fire. Benjamin rebuilt again.

In 2008, Benjamin won the John D. and Catherin T. MacArthur Foundation's "genius" grant for individuals who excel in their chosen field. It came with a $500,000 check.

President Obama named her as his choice for surgeon general in July 2009. She was confirmed in October.

The Issues

Once known as "America's Doctor," the surgeon general position has been lower profile in recent years. President Obama wanted to raise the SG's profile once again, using the office to promote awareness and communicate with the public in his bid to overhaul the nation's health-care system. Obama even considered CNN medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta for the role before a public outcry about his public-health credentials preceded his withdrawal.

Benjamin draws from her personal experience in the role. After losing her mother to lung cancer and her brother to HIV, she said, "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." She went on, "I want to be sure that no one falls through the cracks as we improve our health-care system."

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Health-Care Reform

Benjamin's role made her a key spokeswoman for the president's health-reform proposals.

Benjamin spent most of her career in the trenches trying to deliver health-care to a largely uninsured population. She practiced in Bayou La Batre, a small fishing village in rural Alabama.

A third of the population is made up of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian immigrants (others are mostly black or white), a fifth of the population lives below the poverty line, and two-fifths lack medical insurance.

Her experience made her a powerful advocate for Obama's plan to offer affordable health insurance to Americans.

Of Benjamin's patients who had insurance, most relied on government-funded Medicare and Medicaid plans. She gained an expert understanding of the programs and was a member of the Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Before joining the Obama administration, Benjamin had spoken out about her wishes for an overhaul of the health-care system. Her one-doctor clinic in Alabama was an innovative model, though not financially successful.

In 2008, Benjamin said she wanted to get to the roots of why so many Americans are without insurance. "The first thing I would do is make sure our K-12 education is strong," she said. "If you have a good education, you can get a good job and pay for insurance. Not only that, you understand health and make good choices."

Primary Care

"At some point, we have to pay attention to the financial model for these primary-care community practices," she told U.S. News and World Report in 2008. "I'm trying to work on that."

Benjamin certainly forfeited many of the financial incentives of medicine to serve her mostly rural and poor patients. She gave up a salary for years when her clinic was not making money.

If Obama's cost cuts end up slashing doctors' salaries, Benjamin could be a useful model of selfless service.

"It was Dr. Benjamin's willingness to sacrifice - something health-care reform may ask of many more doctors - that Mr. Obama discussed at length Monday," The New York Times reported after Obama nominated Benjamin.

Preventive Medicine

"Benjamin is skilled," according to the MacArthur Foundation, "in translating research on preventive health measures into accessible, community-based interventions to decrease the disease burdens of her diverse patient base."

A key part of Obama's health-care legislation is reducing preventable illnesses in order to cut rapidly rising medical costs. Benjamin is in many ways a perfect spokesperson. Her mother, father and brother all died of preventable diseases, and she has served a patient base particularly susceptible to them.

Benjamin also saw the financial toll preventable diseases take on those without insurance."That's why it's so important that the primary-care services are here, that they get preventive care," Benjamin said. "They can't afford to get sick."

The Network

Benjamin claims as a mentor Dr. Louis Sullivan, who was George H.W. Bush's Health and Human Services Secretary. Sullivan was the dean of Morehouse Medical School when Benjamin was a student there.

Additional Resources