Senate Committee Approves Dr. Regina Benjamin

Surgeon General nominee Dr. Regina Benjamin from Bayou La Batre has been approved by the Senate Health Committee. She must now be confirmed by the full Senate.

By: Jamie Burch | WKRG-TV
Published: October 07, 2009

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Bayou La Batre's hurricane doctor is one step closer to becoming U.S. Surgeon General. But Dr. Regina Benjamin still has a major hurdle to overcome.

Wednesday morning, the Senate Health Committee approved Dr. Benjamin's nomination. Now she must be confirmed by the full senate. But that could be a while. A group of eight republican senators, led by Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, have promised to delay a vote on all of President Barack Obama's nominees for health posts until the standoff between Medicare contractors and the Health Department is over.

Dr. Bejamin was nominated by President Obama on July 13. She runs the rural health clinic on Tapia Lane and had to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. In August, Alabama's Department of Human Resources approved a 2.2 million dollar grant to finish construction on her new, 8-thousand square foot facility which has been sitting for months since Dr. Benjamin ran out of money to finish the job.