Rachel Levine

Rachel Leland Levine ( ; born October 28, 1957) is an American pediatrician who served as the United States assistant secretary for health, the admiral in charge of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, from 2021 until 2025.

Levine 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 and as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021. Levine is one of only a few openly transgender government officials in the United States, and is the first to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. On October 19, 2021, Levine became the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services.

Levine was named as one of USA Todays women of the year in 2022, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact on society. Her parents, Melvin and Lillian Levine, were both lawyers. Her sister, Bonnie Levine, is four years older. Levine earned a high school diploma from Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Levine graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine, completing a residency in pediatrics and a postdoctoral fellowship in adolescent medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, New York.

Career After completing her training in pediatrics and psychiatry at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, Levine moved from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993, where she joined the faculty of the Penn State College of Medicine and the staff at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. During her tenure, she created Penn State Hershey Medical Center's Division of Adolescent Medicine and the Penn State Hershey Eating Disorders Program.

Pennsylvania Department of Health In 2015, Levine was nominated by Pennsylvania governor-elect Tom Wolf to serve as Physician General for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

A 2016 statewide audit of Pennsylvania nursing homes found "outdated regulations, dangerously low staffing requirements for nurses, and overarching issues with weak and inconsistent inspections." Three years later the Pennsylvania auditor general found little had changed.

COVID-19 response 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 23, 2021, Levine led the public health response on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania as the state secretary of health. She worked closely on a daily basis with the FEMA director and led a daily press briefing. Levine also came in for criticism over her handling of the pandemic, particularly in regard to nursing home patients.

On March 18, 2020, Levine directed nursing homes to admit new patients, including "stable patients who have had the COVID-19 virus” despite the warnings of nursing home trade groups that such policies "could unnecessarily cost more lives." Although the stated purpose of this decision was to alleviate overcrowding in "acute care settings”, according to a team of reporters from the USA Today Network and Bucks County Courier Times, hospitals in most Pennsylvania counties were not experiencing overcrowding at the time. Spotlight PA also repeatedly reported on erroneous reporting of COVID deaths and other data by state officials.

On May 12, 2020, WHTM reported that following the change in nursing home admissions policies, Levine had moved her own mother out of a nursing home. Levine defended the move: " 'My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,' Levine said. 'My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.' "

The issue of Levine's mother and the high COVID death toll in Pennsylvania nursing homes would momentarily be highlighted nationally after President Biden nominated Levine for the post of US Assistant Secretary for Health. As Newsweek reported, "The criticism ... has come from a few Republican leaders ..." In July 2021 the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it would not be investigating "whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital." Her confirmation hearing with the Senate HELP Committee took place on February 25. On March 17, the committee voted 13–9 to advance her nomination for a full Senate vote. On March 24, the Senate voted 52–48, with all Democrats and two Republicans — Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska — joining all members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to confirm her nomination. Levine is the first openly transgender person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation.

On October 19, 2021, Levine was commissioned as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the United States uniformed services as well as the first female four-star admiral in the Commissioned Corps.

LGBTQ health disparities

Shortly after her confirmation, Levine told NBC News that LGBTQ youth are topmost in her mind when it comes to addressing health disparities in the United States. She cited bullying, suicide, discriminatory policies, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic as pressing issues among LGBTQ youth. Levine has also expressed concerns about vaccine hesitancy among LGBTQ youth who are more likely to experience medical distrust and less likely to seek medical care.

During an April 2022 speech at Texas Christian University, Levine criticized "disturbing – and frankly discriminatory – laws and actions" that many states have implemented that affect the lives of LGBTQ youth. In an interview with NPR, she cited a range of policies, including Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill and Texas' push to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. Arguing that such policies are based on politics rather than public health, Levine encouraged people to contact the Office for Civil Rights when they feel discriminated against and vowed to provide support to those who contact her office. She has two children with Martha Peaslee Levine, whom she married while at Tulane University. They divorced in 2013.

Levine began exploring her gender identity in her 40s, and transitioned in 2011. She has served as a board member of Equality Pennsylvania, an LGBTQ rights organization.

Awards and decorations

Public Health Service Meritorious Service MedalPublic Health Service Presidential Unit CitationPublic Health Service COVID-19 Pandemic Campaign MedalPublic Health Service Regular Corps RibbonCommissioned Corps Training RibbonAssistant Secretary for Health BadgeOffice of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Badge

Publications