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On Wednesday, January 11, President-elect Donald Trump announced the nomination of David Shulkin, M.D., to be the next Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Shulkin currently serves as VA's Under Secretary of Health.
ASA applauds this decision and looks forward to continuing to work with Dr. Shulkin to ensure all of our nation's Veterans continue to receive access to safe, high-quality health care.
Dr. Shulkin was nominated in March 2015 by President Barack Obama to be the VA's Under Secretary for Health, succeeding Carolyn Clancy, M.D. President of Morristown Medical Center since 2010, Dr. Shulkin served concurrently as President of Atlantic Accountable Care Organization and as Vice President of Atlantic Health. Prior to Morristown Medical Center, Dr. Shulkin was President and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and Chief Medical Officer of Temple University Hospital. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Shulkin served as both Chief Medical Officer of the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital and Chief Quality Officer of Drexel University School of medicine. He has also served as Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality, Inc., Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and Director of Clinical Outcome Assessment and Quality Management at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shulkin received a B.A. from Hampshire College and an M.D. from the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
ASA also offers its sincere thanks to VA Secretary McDonald, who has led current efforts to improve health care services to Veterans within VA. McDonald was nominated VA Secretary following investigations into allegations of misconduct at VA medical facilities, including “systemic” issues across the VA health care system. During his tenure, he has led efforts to reduce wait times for services, modernize the VA system, and ensure high-quality care.
Recently, ASA was involved in a campaign to ensure Veterans continue to receive access to safe, physician-led anesthesia care, a response to VA's proposed "Advanced Practice Registered Nurses" rule. As a result of this advocacy for Veterans, Secretary McDonald and Under Secretary Shulkin released a final rule that preserves the current safe, team-based model of care that Veterans have earned and deserve. ASA thanks Secretary McDonald and Under Secretary Shulkin for their continued commitment to Veterans and safe, high-quality anesthesia care.
