Obama nominates rural family doctor to be surgeon general

President Obama nominated Dr. Regina Benjamin, a doctor from rural Alabama, to be Surgeon General today.

Benjamin runs a non-profit clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., that she has rebuilt multiple times after it was destroyed by hurricanes or fires.

In remarks announcing his decision to nominate Benjamin, Obama praised her work with uninsured patients,

“For nearly two decades, Dr. Regina Benjamin has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system,” Obama said. “She’s seen an increasing number of patients who’ve had health insurance their entire lives suddenly lose it because they lost their jobs or because it’s simply become too expensive.”

Benjamin was the first African American woman elected to the American Medical Association’s Board of Trustees. She has also served as Associate Dean for Rural Health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.