Antonia Novello

Antonia Novello
14th Surgeon General of the United States
In office
March 9, 1990 – June 30, 1993
President George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Preceded by James Mason (Acting)
Succeeded by Robert Whitney (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1944-08-23) August 23, 1944
Fajardo, Puerto Rico, U.S.
Political party Republican
Education University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Johns Hopkins University

Antonia Coello Novello, M.D., (born August 23, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and public health administrator. She was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as fourteenth Surgeon General of the United States from 1990 to 1993. Novello is the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as Surgeon General. Novello served as Commissioner of Health for the State of New York from 1999 to 2006, and in connection with that position, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of filing a false instrument involving a worker’s duties for having employees do her personal errands.

Career

Public Health Service

In 1979, Novello joined the Public Health Service and received a commission in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC). Her first assignment was as a project officer at the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[1] From 1976, she also held a clinical appointment in pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital. During her years at NIH, Novello worked on an MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, receiving the degree in 1982.

Novello held various positions at NIH before being appointed to Assistant Surgeon General grade in the PHSCC and assignment as the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1986. She also served as Coordinator for AIDS Research for NICHD from September 1987. In this role, she developed a particular interest in pediatric AIDS, which caught the attention of the White House.[1]

Novello made major contributions to the drafting and enactment of the Organ Transplantation Procurement Act of 1984 while assigned to the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, working with the staff of committee chairman Orrin Hatch.

Pediatric nephrologist

In 1976, Novello opened her own private practice in Springfield, Virginia where she worked as a pediatrician. However she soon realized that she was too emotionally involved with her patients so she left her practice. Novello stated in an interview "When the pediatrican cries as much as the parents do, then you know it's time to get out".[2]

Surgeon General

Novello was appointed Surgeon General by President George H. W. Bush, beginning her tenure on March 9, 1990, and was appointed to the temporary rank of vice admiral in the regular corps while the Surgeon General. She was the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the position.

During her tenure as Surgeon General, Novello focused her attention on the health of women, children and minorities, as well as on underage drinking, smoking, and AIDS. She played an important role in launching the Healthy Children Ready to Learn Initiative. She was actively involved in working with other organizations to promote immunization of children and childhood injury prevention efforts. She spoke out often and forcefully about illegal underage drinking, and called upon the United States Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General to issue a series of eight reports on the subject.

Novello also worked to discourage illegal tobacco use by young people, and repeatedly criticized the tobacco industry for appealing to the youth market through the use of cartoon characters such as Joe Camel. A workshop that she convened led to the emergence of a National Hispanic/Latino Health Initiative.

Novello was controversial among abortion rights advocates due to her support of a policy prohibiting family planning program workers who received federal financing from discussing abortion with their patients.[3]

Novello left the post of Surgeon General on June 30, 1993, with the administration of President Bill Clinton praising her for her "vigor and talent."[3]

Later years

After leaving the position of Surgeon General, Novello remained in the regular corps of the Public Health Service. She was assigned the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Special Representative for Health and Nutrition from 1993 to 1996 reverting to her permanent two-star rank of rear admiral. In 1996, she became Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. She retired from the Public Health Service and the PHSCC shortly after with the grade of vice admiral.

In 1999, Governor of New York George Pataki appointed Novello as the Commissioner of Health for the State of New York. She served until 2006. Since 2008, Novello has been vice president of Women and Children Health and Policy Affairs at Disney Children’s Hospital at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida.[4]

As of December 31, 2014, Novello retired from her position as an Executive Director of Public Health Policy at Florida Hospital - Orlando.[5]

Awards

Badges:

Early life

Antonia Novello, born on August 23, 1944 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was the oldest of three children. Growing up, she was raised primarily by her mother, Ana Delia because her father died when she was eight years old. At birth, Novello was diagnosed with Congenital megacolon. This was a painful condition that required Novello to make frequent trips to the hospital. Although Novello was told at eight years old that she should have surgery to correct her problem, it would take another ten years before that would happen. Despite this Novello managed to excel in her study to become a doctor. Her experience with that disease, left such an impact on her that she vowed to become a doctor so that "no other person is going to wait 18 years for surgery.[6]

Education

At an early age, Antonia's Mother, a school teacher and later high school principal, stressed the importance of an education. Novello excelled in her education and graduated from high school at the age of 15.[7] She attended the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1965. She went on to medical school in University of Puerto Rico in San Juan [7] where she received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1970. That same year, she married Joseph R. Novello and they both moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where she continued her medical studies. Novello began a pediatric internship at University of Michigan Medical School. She became the first woman to receive the "University of Michigan Pediatrics Department Intern of the Year" award.[2] In 1973, Novello and her husband moved to Washington D.C. to being her residency in pediatric nephrology at Georgetown University School of Medicine Hospital until 1976.[2]

Marriage

Novello was married to former US Navy flight surgeon and psychiatrist, Joseph R. Novello.[8] She was the sister-in-law of Saturday Night Live alumnus Don Novello, creator of the character persona Father Guido Sarducci.

Felony conviction

In response to a complaint by a former New York State Department of Health employee that Novello used her departmental staff for personal purposes unrelated to her official duties, the New York State Inspector General launched an investigation and in January 2009 produced a report[9] stating that while serving as Health Commissioner, she had routinely abused her authority over department personnel, "turn[ing] her staff at the Health Department into her personal chauffeurs, porters and shopping assistants during her seven-year tenure,"[3] and referred a criminal case against her to Albany County District Attorney David Soares. On May 11, 2009, Novello was charged with one count of defrauding the government, three counts of filing a false instrument, and sixteen counts of theft of government services.[10] At her arraignment by Judge Stephen Herrick, and represented by attorney E. Stewart Jones, she pleaded not guilty to all charges,[10] but on June 26, 2009, in a plea deal with prosecutors, she pleaded guilty to one felony count of filing a false instrument involving a worker’s duties in exchange for a light sentence and dropping the other charges.[11] Her guilty plea was accepted by the court on August 13, 2009.[12]

She was sentenced to pay $22,500 in restitution, a $5,000 fine, and spend 250 hours doing community service at a medical clinic for uninsured patients. Outside the court immediately after the sentencing, Novello called herself a victim of former co-workers and her lawyer called the crime an "administrative processing offense – nothing else."[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Antonia Novello Biography Academy of Achievement". Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  2. 1 2 3 "Antonia C. Novello Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Antonia C. Novello". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  3. 1 2 3 Hakim, Danny (January 26, 2009). "New York Says Health Chief Abused Power". New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  4. ↑ "Florida Hospital Unveils New Details, Name for Disney Children's Hospital". Disney. August 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  5. ↑ http://www.orlandosentinel.com/elsentinel/os-antonia-novello-retiro-20141216-story.html
  6. ↑ Krucoff, Carol (May 1991). "Antonia Novello: A Dream Come True". The Saturday Evening Post.
  7. 1 2 "Antonia Novello Biography -- Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  8. ↑ "Biography: Joseph R. Novello, M.D.,". NovelloMD.com. 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  9. ↑ "Final Report — State of New York Office of the State Inspector General" (PDF). ig.ny.gov. State of New York Office of the State Inspector General. January 27, 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Ex-Health Commissioner Novello charged with theft, fraud." Albany Times Union Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
  11. ↑ "State Official Under Pataki Pleads Guilty". New York Times. Associated Press. June 26, 2009. p. A16. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "NY Judge Lectures Former Surgeon General Novello."
  13. ↑ Gavin, Robert (August 15, 2009). "Novello Gets Earful From Judge — But After Sentencing, Ex-Health Chief Has Words for Co-Workers". Albany Times-Union. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
James Mason
Acting		 Surgeon General of the United States
1990–1993 		Succeeded by
Robert Whitney
Acting
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