James W. Holsinger

James Wilson Holsinger Jr., (born May 11, 1939) is an American physician. A former major general in the U.S. Army Reserve (1962 to 1993), he has worked primarily in public health for over thirty years. He served as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health from 1990 to 1993, during the administrations of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. From 1994 to 2003, Holsinger was the Chancellor of the University of Kentucky's Chandler Medical Center. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Kentucky's Secretary of Health and Family Services.

Holsinger graduated from Duke University with an M.D. in 1964 and a Ph.D. in anatomy in 1968. He holds a degree from the University of Kentucky in human studies. Additionally, he holds master's degrees in hospital financial management from the University of South Carolina, as well as biblical studies from the Asbury Theological Seminary.

He served as a surgical resident at Duke University Medical Center and Shands Teaching Hospital where he was also a fellow in Cardiology. He served at five different hospitals, rising to become a Medical Center Director. He implemented the joint VA and Department of Defense Contingency Hospital System, which could provide 25,000 beds within seventy-two hours for soldiers fighting in Kuwait during the first Iraq War. He oversaw the nation's largest health care system, which served one million in-patients and twenty million out-patient visits per year. Holsinger also developed health care policy for twenty-six million veterans.

When Holsinger assumed the post of Chief Medical Director, the VA was criticized for the quality of the care it provided. In 1991, Holsinger acknowledged that inadequate care had caused the deaths of six patients at its North Chicago hospital. He commissioned a team to review the quality of care, and based on its findings suspended surgical care at the facility. Later, testimony before a Congressional subcommittee reported problems at more than thirty other veterans' hospitals. Under Holsinger's leadership, the university built the Gill Heart Institute and two research buildings, and Holsinger laid the groundwork for the expansion the hospital has undergone since he left.

In the late 1990s, Holsinger led an international team to address the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Working with Africa University in Zimbabwe, the team created a School of Health Sciences with nursing and public health programs to educate young people to deal with the AIDS crisis. Holsinger helped the university obtain a USAID grant to build the facility, which houses one of the few AIDS laboratories in southern Africa. In 2007, the program is preparing to field-test an HIV vaccine.

University of Kentucky faculty After spending two years in Kentucky state government, he returned to the University of Kentucky as a professor for the graduate program in Public Health. In 2011, Holsinger was inducted into University of Kentucky College of Public Health Hall of Fame for his service and dedication. Holsinger is currently the Wethington Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Health Management & Policy.

Political career

Kentucky state government Capitol, Frankfort KentuckyHolsinger served as Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for Kentucky under Governor Ernie Fletcher. He was responsible for the management of the state's health and social services programs, including the five billion dollar Kentucky Medicaid program. Holsinger also led the social services response to the 6,000 evacuees of Hurricane Katrina who relocated to Kentucky.

The Associated Press said Holsinger was a financial supporter of the Republican Party. According to The Courier-Journal, he contributed $23,000 over ten years to the party and its candidates, including President George W. Bush.

Asbury Theological Seminary In November, 2007, the Asbury Theological Seminary board of trustees attempted to remove Holsinger from its board for a possible conflict of interest because he was also a board member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, a division of which was investigating the accreditation status of the seminary. According to Holsinger, he subsequently resigned because he believed the board was asking him to be less than truthful with regulatory agencies.

Nomination for Surgeon General

Confirmation process

On May 24, 2007, Holsinger was nominated by George W. Bush to become the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held the confirmation hearing on July 12, 2007.

Holsinger was supported by the American College of Physicians and former Surgeons General C. Everett Koop and Joycelyn Elders. He was opposed by several gay and lesbian organizations and the American Public Health Association.

In October 2007, Scripps Howard News Service reported that the nomination was in trouble though he retained the support of several Republicans and the White House. The Senate committee was waiting for Holsinger to answer follow-up questions from the July confirmation hearing. On November 16, 2007, The Politico and the Los Angeles Times reported that due to rumors that Holsinger would be recess appointed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would convene the chamber several times during the two-week Thanksgiving break, effectively avoiding adjourning the Senate and preventing any recess appointment. The same tactic was used for the 2007 holiday break.

Given the Democratic resistance coupled with Holsinger's lack of response to the committee's questions after more than ten months, in June 2008, thirteen months after his nomination, Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, a Holsinger supporter, suggested the nomination was dead which the White House and fellow Kentucky Senator and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell denied. The political scientist Norman Ornstein said, "It's extremely unusual for somebody not to answer questions. It's a big fat 'dis' of the committee and of the Senate. Even if you know or believe you are not likely to be confirmed, the idea that you wouldn't sort of do what the committee has asked is still kind of mind-boggling." The committee's Republican ranking member said Holsinger's lack of response was "not helpful" while the editorial board of Kentucky's Courier-Journal characterized it as "disrespectful" and "baffling".

The nomination was never voted on by the Senate and afterwards, in January 2009, Bush appointed him to fill a vacant unpaid position on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports to expire May 2010. Paul Weyrich, the conservative commentator, said opposition to Holsinger's nomination amounted to an assault on religious freedom. Still others asserted that Holsinger is not hostile to homosexuals citing his support for a session on lesbian health issues at a health conference

The critics were largely concerned with a 1991 white paper he wrote titled Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality for a committee in the United Methodist Church reviewing its position that homosexuality violates Christian teaching. But the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, the main writer for the committee, said Holsinger imposed his views of homosexuality in the report. but continues to struggle with the issue.

Supporters of Holsinger's nomination defended the paper as a review of the relevant medical literature at that time. However, a Judicial Council member said that the decisions should not be read as Holsinger's personal views because the council does not have the power to establish church law and lacked the discretion to rule otherwise. On October 24, 2007, Holsinger announced he would not participate in the fall Judicial Council meeting set to decide on a case involving the appointment of a transgender clergy member, which upheld the appointment. Holsinger completed his 8-year term as a Judicial Council member and his 4-year term as its president in May 2008.

Finally, gay rights groups have expressed concerns that the church to which Holsinger belongs, Hope Springs United Methodist Church, had a program that tries to "cure" gays. However, the church's pastor denied this. and pushing to increase the excise tax on cigarettes from 3 cents to 75 cents (ultimately raised to 30 cents) in a tobacco-growing state. At his confirmation hearing, Holsinger said one of his top three priorities is "making America a tobacco-free nation". He included this as one of his highest priorities at his confirmation hearing. In 2005, he argued against a Kentucky anti-cloning bill, warning it could restrict future research. Holsinger testified that his father died of Parkinson's disease which is under investigation for gene therapy. During the HELP hearing, Holsinger said he supported President Bush's stem cell policy,

Sex education Holsinger said that abstinence education is one way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted teen pregnancy but also supported educating teenagers about condom use.

Morning after pill Holsinger said he did not support restricting the availability of an emergency contraceptive known as the morning-after pill, or Plan B.

Independence of the office of Surgeon General Two days before the HELP confirmation hearing, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona went public with claims that the Bush Administration censored his speeches and buried his scientific reports. When asked about this at the hearing, Holsinger said, "If I were faced with a situation that I felt I could not in good conscience do, I think I have a clear response to that. I would resign."