President Obama has nominated a rural Alabama physician to become the next Surgeon General. Dr. Regina Benjamin is founder of a Gulf Coast medical clinic that’s been rebuilt twice following hurricanes, most recently Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She is known for treating patients even if they can’t pay their bills. Benjamin appeared with Obama Monday at the White House.

Dr. Regina Benjamin: “For years, I have worked to find resources to sustain a doctor’s office that treats patients without health insurance or the ability to pay out of their pockets. It should not be this hard for doctors and other healthcare providers to care for their patients. It shouldn’t be this expensive for Americans to get healthcare in this country. And Mr. President, thank you for putting healthcare reform at the top of your domestic agenda. My hope, if confirmed as Surgeon General, is to be America’s doctor, America’s family physician.”