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Assistant Secretary for Health
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<p>The assistant secretary for health (ASH) is a <a href="/facts/Officer_of_the_United_States/UsKBlDl5">senior U.S. government official</a> within the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Health_and_Human_Services/eS90vYmd">U.S. Department of Health and Human Services</a> (HHS) who serves as the primary advisor to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Secretary_of_Health_and_Human_Services/JEP414sF">secretary of health and human services</a> on matters involving the nation's public health, and provides strategic and policy direction to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Public_Health_Service/utUnKRuS">Public Health Service</a> agencies and <a href="/facts/United_States_Public_Health_Service_Commissioned_Corps/QfvmogN2">Commissioned Corps</a>. </p><p>The position is a statutory <a href="/facts/Advice_and_consent/oKJFKzFg">Senate-confirmed</a> <a href="/facts/Political_appointments_in_the_United_States/MBHQ2evc">presidential appointment</a> (<a href="/facts/Title_42_of_the_United_States_Code/EugLewhB">42 U.S.C.</a> <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/202">§ 202</a>), who may be a civilian, or a uniformed <a href="/facts/4-star_rank/rxDa9Fsw">four-star</a> <a href="/facts/Admiral_(United_States)/4EnHN4bR">admiral</a> of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Public_Health_Service_Commissioned_Corps/QfvmogN2">PHS Commissioned Corps</a> and is nominated for appointment by the <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president</a>. The president may also nominate a civilian appointee to also be appointed a <a href="/facts/Direct_commission_officer/wUdbNejv">direct commission</a> in the commissioned corps if the nominee so chooses. The assistant secretary's office and its staff make up the <a href="/facts/Office_of_the_Assistant_Secretary_for_Health/soggoqWf">Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health</a> (OASH). </p>