Shulkin Confirmed as Under Secretary of Health for US Department of Veterans Affairs

The U.S. Senate has confirmed David J. Shulkin, MD, as the Under Secretary of Health for Veterans Affairs. As the chief executive of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Shulkin will lead the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system with more than 1,700 sites of care, serving 8.76 million veterans each year. VHA is also the nation’s largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor of medical research. Shulkin will oversee the 300,000 people who work at the VHA.

Shulkin was nominated by President Obama on March 19, 2015, to serve as under secretary and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 23, 2015. The vote to confirm Shulkin comes as Congress has shown concern over issues at the VA over the past year related to access and quality of care.

Shulkin, 55, of Pennsylvania, will replace interim Under Secretary Carolyn Clancy, MD, who took over shortly after Dr. Robert Petzel resigned in 2014.

At his Senate confirmation hearing, Shulkin pledged to improve the largest healthcare organization in the U.S. by using his private sector experience to help guide the VA beyond patient access problems that led to waiting lists and falsified records in Phoenix and elsewhere around the country. Dr. Shulkin told senators at his hearing on May 5, 2015, that “VA needs change” and that the time had come to create a “new VA” with “superior access and the highest standards for quality of care.”

Shulkin said that taking care of veterans is a personal mission. His father served as a captain in the Army and his grandfather was chief pharmacist at the Madison Wisconsin Veterans Medical Center. Both Shulkin and his wife, Dr. Merle Bari, worked in a number of VA facilities during their medical training.

Prior to becoming under secretary, Shulkin led a number of healthcare organizations. He most recently served as president of Morristown Medical Center and vice president of Atlantic Health System in Morristown, New Jersey, where he led the hospital during a period of significant growth and transformation. Prior to that, Shulkin was president and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Shulkin has also served as the chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Shulkin’s expertise includes management in healthcare organizations and integrated delivery systems, medical education, health services research, and health technology. He has been an entrepreneur, author, researcher, and academic leader in the areas of health administration, quality, and patient safety. Dr. Shulkin founded DoctorQuality, Inc., one of the first companies in the country to help consumers choose better quality healthcare.

Shulkin, a general internist, is a graduate of Drexel University School of Medicine and did his medical training at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh. Shulkin was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently he has been Professor of Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.