Dr. Who: Crowdsourcing the Next Surgeon General

Since my initial post, many of you have chimed in with your disapproval of the rumored appointment of Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General.  All good points, by the way.  One of the things I can’t help wondering – for the oft-cited comment “there are so many better candidates out there,” very few bloggers or members of the media have been making lists of who these better candidates are.

Marc Ambinder, back before the election, had suggested Kathleen Sullivan of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Advisory Board, but that doesn’t seem credible (and if Gupta’s television experience isn’t satisfying, Ms. Sullivan’s years as an Emmy-award winning television broadcaster won’t reassure you.)

Diana Mason on Disruptive Women in Health Care mentions two people who have told her explicitly they’re not interested in the job, but make interesting suggestions nevertheless.  Dr. Thomas Friedman has been the Commissioner of Health in New York City and deserves as much credit as anyone for the tobacco ban in restaurants and bars (good for my dry cleaning bills, tremendously better for my health), the banning of trans fatty acids in restaurants, and the new ordinance requiring caloric content being posted in chains and delis – all successful programs that might be implemented at the state level.  NYC has made great strides in HIV, metal health and Electronic Health Records on his watch.  Moreover, he has the Masters in Public Health and the range of scientific articles and international experience to conjure the “gravitas” appropriate to the job.

She also suggests Kristie Gebbie, who is a nurse and professor at Columbia’s School of Nursing with a doctorate in Public Health.  She was Director of the Department Health in Oregon, Secretary of the Department of Health in Washington State, and most famously AIDS Czar under Bill Clinton.

I know there are other candidates out there – but my initial Web surfing hasn’t turned them up.  So to borrow a page from my colleague Clay Burell over on the Public Education blog, let’s crowdsource!

Use the comments field below.  Who’s doing a good job in the field of public health in your state, city or county?  Who’s doing great work that we don’t even know about?  If you don’t have a candidate, then let us know what issues the next Surgeon General needs to tackle as a top priority.  My one request – keep it to public health issues (as no matter who the SG is, regulating the insurance companies will be done by Congress, the President, and the Health and Human Services Dept, not the SG).  Obesity?  HIV/AIDS?  Depression?  Addiction?  Dental Health?

What should the Surgeon General of the 21st Century focus on – you decide!