Satcher directs Morehouse School Of Medicine's new center for primary care

Jet, Feb 4, 2002

When U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher steps down from that post later this month, he will take on a new responsibility as the head of a new national health care center at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, which will seek to close racial and ethnic gaps in health care.

During a recent press conference at the construction site of the National Center for Primary Care (NCPC) at the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Dr. Satcher, 60, announced his acceptance as director of the new facility, which is scheduled to open in May.

"The opportunity to return to Atlanta, and especially to Morehouse School of Medicine, and continue to work as a public health leader was one I couldn't resist," said Satcher, who served as a professor and chairman of the MSM Department of Community Medicine from 1979 to 1982. "As director of the NCPC, I will continue to work with health educators, public health leaders and communities to fulfill the mission of Morehouse School of Medicine and the priorities I established as Surgeon General."

The NCPC will house scholars who will speak with health care providers, conduct research, policy analysis, health professional training and academic support to secure access of primary healthcare for all Americans.

Last year Dr. Satcher, a 1963 Morehouse graduate, announced that he would step down from his current position as the nation's highest-ranking doctor, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, when his four-year term ends on February 13.

For the next six months following his departure he will split his time between MSM and Washington, D.C., as a visiting senior fellow at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation where he will advise the foundation on its programs. He will also take that time to write his memoirs about his experiences as the nation's 16th Surgeon General.

Dr. Satcher, an Anniston, AL, native who received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and who also worked as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once said that he would most like to be known as, "the Surgeon General who listens to the American people and who responds with effective programs."