Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health
Dr. Gerald Cross was appointed Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs on July 8, 2007. He is the second highest ranking official in VHA, the Nation’s largest integrated health care system. VHA has 7.9 million enrollees throughout the United States. With a medical care appropriation of approximately $34 billion, VHA directly employs more than 198,000 health care professionals at more than 1,400 sites of care, including hospitals, community and facility-based clinics, nursing homes, domiciliaries, readjustment counseling centers, and various other facilities. In addition to its medical care mission, VHA is the Nation's largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor to medical and scientific research. More than 125,000 volunteers, 92,000 health profession trainees, and 25,000 affiliated medical faculties are also an integral part of the VHA community. Dr. Cross is a native of Norfolk, Virginia. He earned a medical degree from Loma Linda University in 1977. He entered the U.S. Army in 1978 and completed a residency in Family Medicine at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in 1982. After his residency, Dr. Cross also completed a fellowship in Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1985. During his Army career, he served in multiple leadership positions including teaching chief, department chair, chief of the medical staff, consultant to The Army Surgeon General, residency faculty member, and commander of four separate Army medical facilities ranging from a small overseas clinic to command of the hospital at the largest Army post in the United States. He also served as Deputy Commander for Army Medicine in Europe and the Command Surgeon for U.S. Army Forces Command where he oversaw preparations related to the training and deployment of the medical forces for Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004, Dr. Cross joined the Veterans Health Administration as the National Director of Primary Care. In 2005, he was appointed Deputy Chief Patient Care Services Officer and then Acting Principal Under Secretary for Health. Dr. Cross is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and the Army War College. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters and the Air Assault Badge. He is board certified in Family Medicine and is a member of the American Medical Association, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States and the American Academy of Family Physicians. July 2007
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