Senate Committee Approves Dr. Regina Benjamin

Alabama Bayou La Batre Surgeon General nominee Dr. Regina Benjamin from Bayou La Batre has been approved by the Senate Health Committee. She must now be confirmed by the full Senate.

by Jamie Burch

Published: Wed, October 07, 2009 - 11:51 am CST

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Bayou La Batre's hurricane doctor is one step closer to becoming U.S. Surgeon General. But Dr. Regina Benjamin still has a major hurdle to overcome.

Wednesday morning, the Senate Health Committee approved Dr. Benjamin's nomination. Now she must be confirmed by the full senate. But that could be a while. A group of eight republican senators, led by Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, have promised to delay a vote on all of President Barack Obama's nominees for health posts until the standoff between Medicare contractors and the Health Department is over.

Dr. Bejamin was nominated by President Obama on July 13. She runs the rural health clinic on Tapia Lane and had to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. In August, Alabama's Department of Human Resources approved a 2.2 million dollar grant to finish construction on her new, 8-thousand square foot facility which has been sitting for months since Dr. Benjamin ran out of money to finish the job.

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ickthus Says:

Fri, Oct 09, 2009 at 10:30 am

time has already told her story. this is not a good move.

abigail Says:

Fri, Oct 09, 2009 at 10:11 am

As I said, “Time will tell”.

rmseek1234 Says:

Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 12:06 pm

I’m sorry abigail-but I agree with ickthus on this one. There are WAY to many more qualified, notable doctors out there. I have concerns about her running our nations healthcare-when she couldn’t even run her own clinic. Except when the media was involved. I know she has had a lot of “accomplishments,” BUT-I have also heard through the medical grapevine,that many of those were self-promoted,not colleague nominated. I guess it is the year for the egotistical, self-serving folks to run the country…

ickthus Says:

Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 10:16 am

I know cow pies from shoe polish and she will need scuba gear for this job. Why give someone a job to see if they sink or swim? Give it to someone that you know can do the job from having the background to do it. She is not high-level CEO. A midlevel board swatter and elbow bump at best. Lets see her run any major hospital for a year. This is a uniform post. Does she have any military background? Has she run any national org. or programs? Face it she is window dressing for the obamanation. I do know she is a hard working and caring Dr. and has worked hard to get some where but she hasn’t got the numbers that add up for this Post.

abigail Says:

Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 9:40 am

Ickthus, I guess you really don’t know Dr. Benjamin. Time will tell. Until then, maybe you could give her the benefit of the doubt?

ickthus Says:

Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 9:13 am

She is about is about like any other he has appointed to a post. A joke. Hand picked to do his bidding not the job. Lets just hope the ones under her can pick up the slack

abigail Says:

Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 7:00 am

Talk about politics! Here is a person who is fully qualified to act as Surgeon General and, maybe - just maybe, help the health care of the American people more than any bill Obama and Congress can produce. So, what happens? The Senate Republicans are going to delay a vote for pure politican reasons. Their reasons have nothing to do with Dr. Benjamin. We put these people in office. I hope we, the people, remember who they were when election time comes around again.