The United States Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) serves as the Secretary of Health and Human Services's primary advisor on matters involving the nation's public health and, if serving as an active member in the regular corps, is the highest ranking uniformed official in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC). The ASH oversees all matters pertaining to the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) for the Secretary as well as provide strategic and policy direction for the PHSCC. The PHS is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The PHS is comprised of almost all the agency divisions of the HHS as well as the PHSCC, a uniformed service of more than 6,000 health professionals who serve at the HHS and other federal agencies. The ASH is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. The ASH serves a four year term of office at the pleasure of the President. If the appointee is a serving member of the PHSCC, he or she is also appointed as a four-star Admiral in the PHSCC . The President may also nominate a civilian appointee to be commissioned into the regular corps if the President so chooses . As such the ASH is the only four-star admiral in the PHSCC. Currently, the position of Assistant Secretary for Health is vacant, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health is Don Wright.
President Bush has nominated Joxel García to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and Assistant Secretary of Health (ASH) . If confirmed, Dr. García would be commissioned into the PHSCC and appointed to the rank of a four-star admiral.
The following organizations are also under the umbrella of the ASH:
