The United States Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) serves as the Secretary of Health and Human Services

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet...

's primary advisor on matters involving the nation's public health and, if serving as an active member in the regular corps, is the highest ranking uniformed officer in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC). The ASH oversees all matters pertaining to the Public Health Service

United States Public Health Service

The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...

 (PHS), the main division of the Department of Health and Human Services

United States Department of Health and Human Services

The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...

 (HHS), for the Secretary as well as provide strategic and policy direction for the PHSCC. The PHS comprises almost all the agency divisions of the HHS as well as the PHSCC, a uniformed service

Uniformed services of the United States

The United States has seven federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10, and subsequently structured and organized by Title 10, Title 14, Title 33 and Title 42 of the United States Code.-Uniformed services:...

 of more than 6,000 health professionals who serve at the HHS, other federal agencies, and/or are assigned details to the armed forces

United States armed forces

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

. The ASH is a civilian or a uniformed member of the regular corps and is nominated for appointment by the President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. The nominee must also be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. The ASH serves a four year term of office at the pleasure of the President. If the appointee is a serving member of the regular corps, he or she is also appointed as a four-star admiral

Admiral (United States)

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...

 in the regular corps
. The President may also nominate a civilian appointee to also be appointed a commission in the regular corps if the nominee so chooses . As such the position of ASH is the only office in the PHS that merits a four-star grade in the regular corps. The current Assistant Secretary for Health is Dr. Howard K. Koh.

History

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs was established on January 1, 1967 following the Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966. The plan allowed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to restructure the Public Health Service

United States Public Health Service

The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...

 to better serve public health. The office was renamed to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health following the Department of Education Organization Act in 1972.

Assistant Secretary for Health

#	Name	Photo	Term of Office		Appointed by
			Start	End
1	Philip R. Lee Philip Lee Philip Lee may refer to:*Captain Philip Lee, Sr. , Naval officer of North Potomac, Justice, Sheriff, member of Upper House, and King's Council*Philip Lee , Australian cricketer*Philip Henry Lee, husband of Adelaide Neilson...		November 2, 1965	1969	Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
2	Roger O. Egeberg Roger O. Egeberg Roger Olaf Egeberg, M.D. served as General Douglas MacArthur's personal physician during WWII in the Pacific Theater and as Assistant Secretary of Health in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Richard Nixon administration...		July 14, 1969	1971	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
3	Charles C. Edwards		April 18, 1973	1975
4	Dr. Theodore Cooper		July 1, 1975	1977
5	VADM Vice admiral (United States) In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, and the United States Maritime Service, vice admiral is a three-star flag officer, with the pay grade of...  Julius B. Richmond Julius B. Richmond Julius Benjamin Richmond was an American pediatrician and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the United States Surgeon General and the United States Assistant Secretary for Health during the Carter...		1977	1981	Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
6	Edward N. Brandt, Jr. Edward Brandt, Jr. Edward N. Brandt, Jr. was an American physician, mathematician, and public health administrator. He was appointed acting Surgeon General of the United States from 1981 to 1982, and served as the United States Assistant Secretary for Health from 1981 to 1984. Brandt died of lung cancer on August...		May 14, 1981	1984	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
7	Robert E. Windom		1986	1989
8	ADM Admiral (United States) In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...  James O. Mason James O. Mason James Ostermann Mason was the United States Assistant Secretary for Health from 1989 to 1993 and the Acting Surgeon General of the United States from 1989 to 1990. As the ASH he was also a former four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps...		1989	1993	George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
9	Philip R. Lee Philip Lee Philip Lee may refer to:*Captain Philip Lee, Sr. , Naval officer of North Potomac, Justice, Sheriff, member of Upper House, and King's Council*Philip Lee , Australian cricketer*Philip Henry Lee, husband of Adelaide Neilson...		July 2, 1993	1998	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
10	ADM David Satcher David Satcher David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. FAAFP, FACPM, FACP is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and the 16th Surgeon General of the United...		February 13, 1998	January 2001
11	Eve Slater		February 8, 2002	February 5, 2003	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
(Acting)	RADM Cristina V. Beato		February 5, 2003	December 17, 2005
12	ADM John O. Agwunobi John O. Agwunobi John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH served as the 12th Assistant Secretary for Health from December 17, 2005 to September 4, 2007. During his term as the ASH, he was a serving member of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service, and held the rank of a four-star...		December 17, 2005	September 4, 2007
13	ADM Joxel García Joxel García Joxel García is a Puerto Rican physician and a former four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He served as the thirteenth Assistant Secretary for Health , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from March 13, 2008 to January 20, 2009...		March 28, 2008	January 20, 2009
(Acting)	RADM Steven K. Galson Steven K. Galson Steven Kenneth Galson is an American public health physician. He is a retired rear admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and public health administrator who served as the acting Surgeon General of the United States from October 1, 2007 – October 1, 2009...		January 22, 2009	June 22, 2009	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
14	Howard K. Koh Howard Koh Howard Kyongju Koh is the 14th United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009.As the Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr...		June 22, 2009	Incumbent

External links

• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)