Rachel Levine
Rachel Levine | |
|---|---|
| File:Dr. Levine State Portrait.jpg | |
| United States Assistant Secretary for Health | |
Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Joe Biden (elect) |
| Succeeding | Brett Giroir |
| Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health | |
| Assumed office July 2017 | |
| Governor | Tom Wolf |
| Preceded by | Karen Murphy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 28, 1957 (age 66) |
| Spouse | Martha Peaslee (div. 2013) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Harvard University (BS) Tulane University (MD) |
Rachel L. Levine (born October 28, 1957)[1][2] is an American pediatrician serving as the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health. She also serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. She was previously Pennsylvania's Physician General. She is one of only a handful of openly transgender government officials in the United States.[3] On January 19, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he will nominate Levine to be Assistant Secretary for Health, which would make her the first ever openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.[4][5]
Early life and education
Levine is originally from Wakefield, Massachusetts.[6] She is Jewish and grew up attending Hebrew school, recalling that while she was growing up, her rabbi did not talk about LGBTQ issues.[7] She earned her high school diploma from Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts.[8]
Levine graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine and completed a residency in pediatrics and fellowship in adolescent medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, NY.[6]
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Career
Levine had a fellowship at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital from 1988 to 1993[6] where she trained in pediatrics.[9] After moving from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993,[6] she joined the staff at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. During her tenure there, she created Penn State Hershey Medical Center's adolescent medicine division and eating disorders clinic. She was in charge of the latter when she was nominated for the position of Pennsylvania Physician General in 2015.[6]
In 2015, Levine was nominated by Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Wolf to be Pennsylvania's Physician General.[3] In her capacity as Physician General, Levine signed an order that allowed law enforcement officers to carry the anti-overdose medication naloxone. She has credited the drug with saving the lives of almost 1,000 opioid users who had overdosed.[3] She served as Physician General until 2017.
In July 2017 Governor Wolf appointed Levine as Secretary of Health,[10] and she was unanimously confirmed.[3] In January 2021, United States President-elect Joe Biden announced that he is nominating Levine to be the Assistant Secretary for Health. If confirmed, she will be the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.[4][5]
COVID-19 pandemic
As the state secretary of health, she leads the public health response on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania.[9] She works closely on a daily basis with the FEMA director and leads a daily press briefing.[10]
Levine was accused of removing her own mother from a personal care home, after creating a policy whereby nursing homes throughout the Commonwealth would readmit residents testing positive for Coronavirus after they were declared healthy enough to leave the hospital. Levine has stated that personal care homes (as opposed to nursing homes) do not fall under the jurisdiction of her own agency.[11]
Advocacy
Levine has served as a board member of Equality Pennsylvania, an LGBT rights organization.[3]
Personal life
She has two children, David and Dayna.[12][13] She transitioned in 2011. Levine and her ex-wife, Martha Peaslee Levine,[14][13] divorced in 2013.[15][3]
See also
References
- ^ "Meet Rachel Levine, the Health Secretary Leading the Coronavirus Battle in Pennsylvania". Philadelphia Magazine. April 14, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Wenner, David (March 20, 2015). "Transgender physician general Dr. Rachel Levine addresses conference, reaches out to transgender youth". pennlive. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Zezima, Katie (June 1, 2016). "Meet Rachel Levine, one of the very few transgender public officials in America". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Eileen (January 19, 2021). "Biden's pick for Health and Human Services role would be first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "Biden picks transgender woman as assistant health secretary". AP NEWS. January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Choi-Schagrin, Winston (March 20, 2020). "A 2018 Q&A with Dr. Rachel Levine, now leading state's coronavirus response [from The Caucus archives]". LancasterOnline. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- ^ "Jewish woman welcomed as transgender, state's new physician general". The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh. June 24, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
- ^ https://www.belmonthill.org/news-detail?pk=884867
- ^ a b "Meet the Transgender Doctor Leading Pennsylvania's COVID-19 Response". www.advocate.com. March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "Who is Rachel Levine? Pa. health secretary offers calm, reassurance amid pandemic". PA Post. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Health Secretary Rachel Levine's removal of mom from care home amid epidemic draws scrutiny". pennlive. May 14, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "more about me www.writerdoc.com". December 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ a b "Inside Tulane Med". tmaaarchive.tulane.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ "resume www.writerdoc.com". December 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ "How Do You Measure Your Life?". Psychology Today. Retrieved May 22, 2020.