Rachel Levine

Rachel Leland Levine (/ləˈviːn/; born October 28, 1957)[1] is an American pediatrician and a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who has been the United States assistant secretary for health since March 26, 2021.[2]

She is a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, and previously served as the Pennsylvania physician general from 2015 to 2017, then as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021.[3] Levine is one of only a few openly transgender government officials in the United States,[4] and is the first to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation.[5][6] On October 19, 2021, Levine became the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services.[7]

Early life and education

Born on October 28, 1957, Levine is originally from Wakefield, Massachusetts.[1][8] Her parents, Melvin and Lillian Levine, were both lawyers.[9] She has a sister, Bonnie Levine, who is four years older.[9] Levine is Jewish and grew up attending Hebrew school.[10] Levine earned a high school diploma from Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts.[11]

Levine graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine and completed a residency in pediatrics and fellowship in adolescent medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, New York.[12]

Career

Levine had a fellowship at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital from 1988 to 1993[12] where she trained in pediatrics.[13] After moving from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993,[12] she joined the staff at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. During her tenure there, she created Penn State Hershey Medical Center's adolescent medicine division and eating disorders clinic. She was in charge of the latter when she was nominated for the position of Pennsylvania Physician General in 2015.[12]

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Levine briefing COVID-19 measures with Gov. Tom Wolf at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in June 2020

In 2015, Levine was nominated by Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Wolf to be Pennsylvania's Physician General.[4] In her capacity as Physician General, Levine signed an order that allowed law enforcement officers to carry the anti-overdose medication naloxone. She has credited the drug with saving the lives of almost 1,000 opioid users who had overdosed.[4] She served as Physician General until 2017.

In July 2017, Governor Wolf appointed Levine as Secretary of Health,[14] and she was unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate.[4]

COVID-19 response

During 2020 and until January 23, 2021, Levine led the public health response on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania as the state secretary of health.[13] She worked closely on a daily basis with the FEMA director and led a daily press briefing.[14] Levine also came in for criticism over her handling of the pandemic, particularly in regard to nursing home patients.[15][16]

On March 18, 2020, Levine directed nursing homes to admit new patients, including "stable patients who have had the COVID-19 virus” despite the warnings of nursing home trade groups that such policies "could unnecessarily cost more lives."[17] Although the stated purpose of this decision was to alleviate overcrowding in "acute care settings”, according to a team of reporters from the USA Today Network and Bucks County Courier Times, hospitals in most Pennsylvania counties were not experiencing overcrowding at the time.[17] Spotlight PA, also noted that, under Levine, Pennsylvania had a "robust and aggressive" plan to protect nursing home residents but it "was never fully implemented".[18] Spotlight PA also repeatedly reported on erroneous reporting of COVID deaths and other data by state officials.[19][20][21][22]

On May 12, 2020, WHTM reported that following the change in nursing home admissions policies, Levine had moved her own mother out of a nursing home.[23] Levine defended the move: " 'My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,' Levine said. 'My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.' "[23] By the summer of 2020, around 70% of COVID deaths in Pennsylvania were in nursing homes, leading to renewed criticism that state officials were "letting infected patients back into nursing homes" and also that the state had stopped health inspections nursing homes.[24][25]

The issue of Levine's mother and the high COVID death toll in Pennsylvania nursing homes would momentarily be highlighted nationally after President Biden nominated Levine for the post of US Assistant Secretary for Health.[26][27] As Newsweek reported, "The criticism ... has come from a few Republican leaders ..."[26] Newsweek also fact-checked the claim that Levine put COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, concluding the claim was false and "There is no evidence to support [Representative Marjorie Taylor] Greene's claim that Levine placed coronavirus-positive patients in nursing home facilities, thus likely contributing 'to the thousands of elderly deaths in Pennsylvania.' "[26] Questions about missing nursing home COVID death and case data would also come up again during Levine's confirmation hearings.[21][22]

Biden administration

Levine with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra after being sworn in as assistant secretary for health, March 27, 2021

On February 13, 2021, President Joe Biden formally nominated Levine to be assistant secretary for health.[28] Her confirmation hearing was on February 25 with the Senate HELP Committee.[29] On March 17, the committee voted 13–9 to advance the nomination to a full Senate vote.[30] On March 24, the Senate voted 52–48, with two Republicans joining all members of the Democratic caucus, to confirm her nomination.[31] She is the first openly transgender person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation;[5][6][32] earlier transgender federal officials like Amanda Simpson held offices which did not require Senate confirmation.[33][34]

On October 19, 2021, Levine was commissioned as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the United States uniformed services.[7][32] She is also the first female four-star admiral in the commissioned corps.[35][36][32]

Personal life

Levine has two children.[37] She transitioned in 2011.[38] Levine and her ex-wife, Martha Peaslee Levine,[39][37] married in 1988, during Levine's last year of medical school,[9][4] and divorced in 2013.[40][4] She has served as a board member of Equality Pennsylvania, an LGBT rights organization.[4]