WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Anthony J. Principi announced the appointment of Dr. Frances M. Murphy as the acting under secretary for health.
With this appointment, Dr. Murphy occupies the highest position in VA's health care system ever held by a woman. She has served as the deputy under secretary for health since August 1999. She will take over from Dr. Thomas L. Garthwaite, who retired from VA and will assume the position of the director of the Department of Health Services for the County of Los Angeles.
"Dr. Murphy has demonstrated that she has the skill and dedication to run the country's largest health care system," said Principi. "She has a keen understanding not only of general health policy and management, but also veterans' health care concerns."
A Rochester, N.Y., native, Murphy received her M.D. degree, cum laude, in 1979 from Georgetown University School of Medicine. She received a master's degree in public health from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in 1993. A board-certified neurologist, Murphy is an Air Force veteran who served as a neurologist at Andrews Air Force Base from 1983-1987.
As the acting under secretary for health, Murphy will oversee a health care system with more than 1,300 sites of care, including 163 hospitals, 800 facility and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 long-term care facilities, 206 readjustment counseling centers and 73 home-care programs. This system provided health care to almost 4.1 million veterans last year.
Murphy will serve in her new position until a permanent under secretary is named. President Bush announced his intention to nominate Dr. Robert H. Roswell, currently director of VA health care in Florida, on Oct. 16, 2001, to the post.
