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1993.07.02 :  Philip Randolph Lee Sworn In

Contact:  Rayford Kytle (202) 690-6867
July 2, 1993

       HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced that Philip
Randolph Lee, M.D., has been sworn in as assistant secretary for
health and head of the U.S. Public Health Service.
       In his new post, Dr. Lee -- who served as assistant secretary
for health and scientific Affairs under President Lyndon Johnson --
will direct the world's largest public health program. 
       "We truly couldn't have anyone better for this all-important
position," Secretary Shalala said.  "Dr. Lee's experience and track
record in virtually every aspect of public health are unparalleled. 
His expertise, spanning more than four decades of involvement in
health care and public health policy, will greatly enhance our
efforts to create meaningful health care reform in America."    
       The Public Health Service has an annual budget of more than
$20 billion and some 45,000 employees.  It includes eight agencies
at the forefront of health care --  the Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food
and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the
Health Resources and Services Administration, the Indian Health
Service and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.
     The Office of the Surgeon General is also part of PHS, as is
the National AIDS Program Office, the National Immunization Program 
Office, the Office of Population Affairs, the Office of Minority
Health, the Office of Women's Health, the Office of Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion and the Office of International
Health. 
     During Dr. Lee's first two years as a Johnson administration
health official -- 1965 to 1967 -- Congress enacted more health
legislation than all previous Congresses combined.  While serving
with PHS, Dr. Lee helped create policies in health care, consumer
protection, health manpower, family planning, environmental health
and biomedical research.
      Since 1972 until his confirmation, Dr. Lee has been director
of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of
California School of Medicine in San Francisco.  Since 1969 he also
has been a professor of social medicine at the university.
       In 1986, when Congress set up the Physician Payment Review
Commission to examine reimbursement of physicians under Medicare,
Dr. Lee was named to head it.  The commission worked closely with
Congress and numerous physician and consumer groups to shape the 
physician payment reform adopted by Congress in 1989.  Dr. Lee
resigned from the commission early this year after being asked by
President Clinton to serve as assistant secretary for health.  
       From 1963 to 1965, Dr. Lee was director of health services at
the Agency for International Development's Office of Technical
Cooperation and Research.  Before that he was a staff member at
the Palo Alto Medical Clinic in California and a fellow at the Mayo
Clinic and Bellevue Medical Center.
       A native of San Francisco, Dr. Lee received his bachelor's
degree and his M.D. from Stanford University and his master's degree
from the University of Minnesota. 
       Dr. Lee's wife, Carroll Estes, is a University of California
professor and an internationally known expert on aging and
long-term care policy.  The couple has six children and five
grandchildren.  
       Dr. Lee succeeds James O. Mason, M.D., who resigned Jan. 20.