Rachel Levine

Rachel L. Levine (/ləˈviːn/; born October 28, 1957)[1] is an American pediatrician who served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 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. She is one of only a handful of openly transgender government officials in the United States.[3] President Joe Biden has nominated Levine to be Assistant Secretary for Health. She would be the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.[4][5]

Rachel Levine
United States Assistant Secretary for Health
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentJoe Biden
SucceedingBrett Giroir
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health
In office
July 2017 – January 23, 2021
GovernorTom Wolf
Preceded byKaren Murphy
Succeeded byAlison Beam (acting)
Personal details
Born (1957-10-28) October 28, 1957
Spouse(s)
Martha Peaslee
​
(div. 2013)​
Children2
EducationHarvard University (BS)
Tulane University (MD)

Early life and education

Levine was born on October 28, 1957, and is originally from Wakefield, Massachusetts.[6][7] She is Jewish and grew up attending Hebrew school.[8] She earned her high school diploma from Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts.[9]

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.[10]

Career

Levine had a fellowship at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital from 1988 to 1993[10] where she trained in pediatrics.[11] After moving from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993,[10] 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.[10]

In 2015, Levine was nominated by Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Wolf to be Pennsylvania's Physician General.[3] 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.[3] She served as Physician General until 2017.

In July 2017, Governor Wolf appointed Levine as Secretary of Health,[12] and she was unanimously confirmed.[3] In January 2021, then-President-elect Joe Biden announced that he is nominating Levine to be the Assistant Secretary for Health. If confirmed, she will be the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.[4][5]

COVID-19 pandemic
See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia, and Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term care facilities
Levine briefing COVID-19 measures with Gov. Tom Wolf at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in June 2020

During 2020 and until January 23rd 2021, Levine led the public health response on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania as the state secretary of health.[11] She worked closely on a daily basis with the FEMA director and led a daily press briefing.[12]

Levine removed her mother from a personal care home, after creating a policy whereby nursing homes throughout the Commonwealth would readmit residents testing positive for COVID-19 after they were declared healthy enough to leave the hospital. Levine has stated that personal care homes (as opposed to nursing homes) do not fall under the jurisdiction of her own agency.[13]

Advocacy

Levine has served as a board member of Equality Pennsylvania, an LGBT rights organization.[3]

Personal life

Levine has two children, David and Dayna.[14][15] She transitioned in 2011. Levine and her ex-wife, Martha Peaslee Levine,[16][15] divorced in 2013.[17][3]

See also

References
  1. "LGBT History Month — October 22: Rachel Levine". Q-Notes. October 22, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  2. "Gov. Wolf to Nominate Alison Beam as Secretary of Health, Names Dr. Wendy Braund as Interim Acting Physician General". Governor's Office. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  3. Zezima, Katie (June 1, 2016). "Meet Rachel Levine, one of the very few transgender public officials in America". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  4. Sullivan, Eileen (January 19, 2021). "Biden's pick for Health and Human Services role would be first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  5. "Biden picks transgender woman as assistant health secretary". AP NEWS. January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  6. "LGBT History Month — October 22: Rachel Levine". Q-Notes. October 22, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  7. Goodin-Smith, Oona (January 19, 2021). "What to know about Rachel Levine, the history-making Pa. health official tapped for Biden administration". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  8. "Jewish woman welcomed as transgender, state's new physician general". The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh. June 24, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  9. "Dr. Rachel Levine '75 Offers Timely Message for Students". Belmont Hill School. October 24, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  10. Choi-Schagrin, Winston (March 20, 2020). "A 2018 Q&A with Dr. Rachel Levine, now leading state's coronavirus response [from The Caucus archives]". LancasterOnline. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  11. "Meet the Transgender Doctor Leading Pennsylvania's COVID-19 Response". www.advocate.com. March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. DeJesus, Ivey (March 19, 2020). "Who is Rachel Levine? Pa. health secretary offers calm, reassurance amid pandemic". WITF. PennLive.
  13. "Health Secretary Rachel Levine's removal of mom from care home amid epidemic draws scrutiny". pennlive. May 14, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  14. "more about me www.writerdoc.com". December 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  15. "Inside Tulane Med". tmaaarchive.tulane.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  16. "resume www.writerdoc.com". December 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  17. Levine, Martha Peaslee (November 5, 2013). "How Do You Measure Your Life?". Psychology Today.

Publications
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