I know her!

My internet home page is GoogleNews. This affords me a quick glance at what’s going on in the world, before I move on to more mundane tasks. This afternoon however, I scrolled then stopped with an ‘oh. my. god.’ Regina Benjamin has been named the new Surgeon General of the United States. I know her! I don’t mean I know who she is, I mean I actually know this woman.

First. let me say that she is an excellent choice for this post. Any post. She is truly one of the heroes of our world. Not only is she an African American woman physician who overcame a lot just to complete medical school, she has a boatload of credentials, including heading up the Alabama Medical Association and serving on the AMA’s board of directors. But really what sets her apart is her soul-giving work in a poverty stricken area of Alabama where she has for probably 15 years now, provided health care to the poor. Not as a team of physicians but as THE doctor. Taking whatever people could pay.

Here’s a clip that talks about her work, her recent (yes) Macarthur Genius grant and the devastation of Katrina that took out the clinic, only for a fire to destroy it again after it was rebuilt:

So, how do I know her? I first heard of Dr. Benjamin about 10 years ago, when she was a keynote speaker at a rural health conference I gave a paper at. Then in 2002 I was invited to be on an expert panel on rural caregiving for the Roslyn Carter Center. The panel met for two days at the Carter Center outside Atlanta, discussing issues and making research and policy recommendations. Regina was on the panel, along with about 10 other excellent folks from around the US. Recognizing her from the earlier conference, and knowing of her work in Alabama, I was in awe of her (which means that I kept a respectful distance). Over the couple days, though, and having he occasion to spend some time walking through the Carter library and museum with her, and the off time time of airport shuttles and dinner conversation, I became more relaxed with her. I won’t say we became friends, but I saw her as a real person, warm, friendly, funny – but still incredibly amazing for her accomplishments and her dedication.

That Obama would show the great wisdom to tag her as Surgeon General is not surprising, but it is a fabulous choice. Hopefully this appointment will be worthy of her worth, and will earn more attention and support for the rural poor she has so long served.

~ by modelmom on July 13, 2009.