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Assistant Secretary for Health
USHHS primary advisor on US public health

The assistant secretary for health (ASH) is a senior U.S. government official within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who serves as the primary advisor to the secretary of health and human services on matters involving the nation's public health, and provides strategic and policy direction to the Public Health Service agencies and Commissioned Corps.

The position is a statutory Senate-confirmed presidential appointment (42 U.S.C. § 202), who may be a civilian, or a uniformed four-star admiral of the PHS Commissioned Corps and is nominated for appointment by the president. The president may also nominate a civilian appointee to also be appointed a direct commission in the commissioned corps if the nominee so chooses. The assistant secretary's office and its staff make up the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH).

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History

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs was established on January 1, 1967, following Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966.5 The new position supplanted the surgeon general as the head of the PHS, with all PHS component heads now reporting to the assistant secretary.6789 This was seen as undermining the chain of command of the PHS Commissioned Corps, beginning a long-term shift where Commissioned Corps officers were more responsible to the agencies they were stationed in than to the corps itself.10

The office was renamed the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health following the Department of Education Organization Act in 1972.11

In 1995, supervision of the agencies within PHS was shifted to report directly to the secretary of health and human services. This transformed the assistant secretary for health from a supervisory position in the direct chain of command, into an advisory one.12

In 2010, the office's name was changed from Office of Public Health and Science to Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.13

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health

Main article: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health

As of 2018, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health oversees 12 core public health offices, 10 regional health offices, and 10 presidential and secretarial advisory committees.14

List

No.Assistant secretaryTermPay schedule orService branch
PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeTerm length
1Philip R. LeeNovember 2, 196519693 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
2Roger O. EgebergJuly 14, 196919712 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
3Merlin K. DuValJuly 1, 1971January 20, 19731 year, 203 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
4Charles C. EdwardsApril 18, 1973January 5, 19751 year, 262 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
5Theodore CooperJuly 1, 197519772 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
6Vice AdmiralJulius B. RichmondJuly 13, 1977May 14, 19813 years, 305 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
7Edward Brandt Jr.198119843 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
8Robert E. Windom198619893 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
9AdmiralJames O. Mason198919934 yearsU.S. PublicHealth Service
10Philip R. LeeJuly 2, 199319985 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
11AdmiralDavid SatcherFebruary 13, 1998January 20, 20012 years, 342 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
-Rear AdmiralArthur J. Lawrence15ActingJanuary 20, 2001February 8, 20021 year, 19 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
12Eve SlaterFebruary 8, 2002February 5, 2003362 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
-Rear AdmiralCristina V. BeatoActingFebruary 5, 2003January 4, 20062 years, 333 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
13AdmiralJohn O. AgwunobiJanuary 4, 2006September 4, 20071 year, 243 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
-Don J. WrightActingSeptember 4, 2007March 28, 2008206 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
14AdmiralJoxel GarcíaMarch 28, 2008January 20, 2009298 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
-Rear AdmiralSteven K. GalsonActingJanuary 22, 2009June 22, 2009151 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
15Howard K. KohJune 22, 2009August 1, 20145 years, 40 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
-Karen B. DeSalvo16ActingOctober 2014January 3, 2017More than 2 yearsExecutiveSchedule IV
-Don J. WrightActingJanuary 4, 2017February 15, 20181 year, 42 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
16AdmiralBrett P. GiroirFebruary 15, 2018January 19, 20212 years, 339 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
-Rear AdmiralFelicia L. CollinsActingJanuary 21, 2021March 26, 202164 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
17AdmiralRachel L. Levine17March 26, 2021January 20, 20253 years, 300 daysU.S. PublicHealth Service
-Leith J. States18ActingJanuary 20, 2025May 26, 2025126 daysExecutiveSchedule IV
-Dorothy Fink19ActingMay 26, 2025Incumbent5 daysExecutiveSchedule IV

References

  1. "PHSCC Uniforms". Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080513175033/http://www.usphs.gov/AboutUs/uniforms.aspx ↩

  2. "42 USC 207. Grades, ranks, and titles of commissioned corps". Retrieved January 19, 2008. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/207 ↩

  3. "42 USC 207. Grades, ranks, and titles of commissioned corps". Retrieved January 19, 2008. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/207 ↩

  4. "Regular Corps Assimilation Program" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20100508142058/http://dcp.psc.gov/eccis/documents/CCPM23_3_7.pdf ↩

  5. "Records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health [OASH]". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2020. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/514.html ↩

  6. "Records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health [OASH]". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2020. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/514.html ↩

  7. History, mission, and organization of the Public Health Service. U.S. Public Health Service. 1976. pp. 3–4, 20, 22. https://books.google.com/books?id=M-n4arYE5ScC ↩

  8. "A Common Thread of Service: A History of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare". U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. July 1, 1972. Secretary Cohen. Retrieved September 1, 2020 – via HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/common-thread-service/history-department-health-education-and-welfare ↩

  9. Landman, Keren (August 29, 2019). "For America's Public Health Officers, Questions of Duty and Purpose". Undark Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2020. https://undark.org/2019/06/24/public-health-service-commissioned-corps/ ↩

  10. Landman, Keren (August 29, 2019). "For America's Public Health Officers, Questions of Duty and Purpose". Undark Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2020. https://undark.org/2019/06/24/public-health-service-commissioned-corps/ ↩

  11. "Records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health [OASH]". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2020. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/514.html ↩

  12. Landman, Keren (August 29, 2019). "For America's Public Health Officers, Questions of Duty and Purpose". Undark Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2020. https://undark.org/2019/06/24/public-health-service-commissioned-corps/ ↩

  13. "Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)". September 22, 2010. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20100922085609/http://www.hhs.gov/ophs ↩

  14. "Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH)". HHS.gov. March 30, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2018. https://www.hhs.gov/ash/index.html ↩

  15. "Rear Admiral Arthur J. Lawrence". Council on Strategic Risks. April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2021. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/rear-admiral-arthur-j-lawrence/ ↩

  16. Received a recess appointment extension on January 1, 2016, under 5 U.S.C. § 3346(b)(2), to continue serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health until the end of fiscal year 2016. /wiki/Title_5_of_the_United_States_Code ↩

  17. Received her commission and four-star rank on October 19, 2021. ↩

  18. "Leith J. States, M.D., M.P.H." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. January 20, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025. https://www.hhs.gov/about/leadership/leith-states.html ↩

  19. "Dr. Dorothy Fink". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 31, 2025. https://health.gov/about-oash/oash-leadership ↩