01/12/2010 – Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, USPHS, was formally sworn into office as the nation’s 18th Surgeon General in an elaborate ceremony in front of several hundred family members, colleagues, former patients, and PHS Commissioned Corps officers at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, DC on Monday afternoon, January 11th. The ceremony included a brief change-of-command during which 16th Surgeon General David Satcher, and 17th Surgeon General Richard Carmona presented the new VADM Benjamin with the Great Seal of the PHS Commissioned Corps – the Anchor and Caduceus – symbolically passing command of the Corps to Admiral Benjamin. Administration of the PHS Commissioned Corps is the only function of the Surgeon General mandated by law in Title 42 of the US Code. The ceremony was presided over by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Deputy Secretary William Corr, and Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh. In her remarks, VADM Benjamin committed to raising the profile of the PHS Commissioned Corps and increasing awareness of the critical role the Corps has in protecting the nation’s public health – goals the COA shares and strongly endorses.
Click here to watch VADM Regina Benjamin’s interview on ABC’s Good Morning America just prior to her public swearing in as the 18th Surgeon General.