Admiral Rachel Levine with Dr. John Carlo, CEO of Prism Health
Assistant Secretary of Health dropped by Resource Center and Prism Health
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Resource Center CEO Cece Cox called Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine an “uplifter,” saying that “she inspires people.”
Prism Health CEO John Carlo said, “I was honored to be able to observe the emotional connection” Levine made with the staff, adding that it was important for his team to meet with someone so prominent who understands the work they do.
Adm. Rachel Levine is the first transgender person to have to get Senate approval for appointment to her position. She is an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and is the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the eight uniformed services.
Trained as a pediatrician, Levine has been a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine. She served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health before being appointed to her cabinet position in the Biden administration.
Admiral Rachel Levine talks with Resource Center CEO Cece Cox.
On Thursday, Feb. 22, Levine and members of her staff traveled to Dallas to visit Prism Health North Texas and Resource Center. Explaining what she chose Dallas as one of her destinations, Levine said she was visiting locations “where our community has lots of challenges.”
She was given a tour of each organization’s facilities before spending time with each of the facilities’ staffs.
At Resource Center, Levine was most touched by Youth First’s space, calling it warm and inviting.
“Youth are so vulnerable,” she said. “Having a safe space is so important.”
After commenting that a safe space may be created by a teacher, counselor or other professional, Levine said she was horrified to hear the story of an Irving teacher who was fired for having a “Safe Space” sticker on her door.
When Cox asked Levine, “How do you think our youth are doing?” she answered, “Things will get better. I believe that.”
Cox said having the right people in prominent positions makes a difference. Levine was well-prepared for her visit. One of her staff members ran an LGBTQ community center in Pennsylvania before coming to work for her, so there was a level of understanding of Resource Center by HHS as never before.
“It’s so important to have the right people at the table,” Cox said. “Different decisions get made when we’re at the table. Because she’s an openly transgender person, she’s bringing a level of awareness to HHS.”
Most important to Cox was the time Levine took to sit down with her staff. She said especially for transgender members of her staff, the visit was meaningful.
Referring to Levin’s Senate confirmation hearing, Cox called it ugly: “Vitriol based on identity. Mean and ugly, but she prevailed.”
Cox said she was inspired by those who’ve had slings and arrows shot at them. She described Levine as warm and knowledgeable, focused on the important things.
“She brings compassion and awareness to our communities,” Cox said. “She doesn’t let those negative things get in the way.
Carlo echoed the opinions of Cox.
Admiral Rachel Levine with Resource Center staff.
At Prism Health’s Oak Cliff offices, Carlo walked Levine through the medical office, showed her the attached pharmacy and the Empowerment Center. A stop in the drug trials office sparked the most questions.
Among the reasons for Levine’s visit was highlighting her appointment to head a syphilis task force. Texas is among 14 jurisdictions in the U.S. with the highest rates of the disease. Among cities, Dallas is often among the hardest hit.
Levine said cases were way down in 2000, but began to rise through the early part of this century and accelerated during the pandemic. While there isn’t one reason for this, the admiral said lack of access to healthcare and poor availability of mental health care are among the reasons. In the LGBTQ community, she said, political pressure that demonizes our lives in states like Texas makes the situation worse.
“Everyone’s at the table,” she said. “We hope to flatten the curve by the end of the year.”
Carlo said the high rate in this city is “the result of intersections that happen in Dallas: Lack of affordable healthcare. Stigmatization. Lack of healthcare around pregnancy and childbirth. Lack of awareness syphilis is a problem.”
Carlo said it’s what happens when you don’t pay attention to a public health crisis.
And Levine believes everyone should be at the table — including the LGBTQ community — when it comes to general healthcare.
“I think it was the first thing she said when she sat down with our staff,” Carlo said, noting that she told his staff she sees the work being done in Dallas, and that work matters.
Carlo said the meeting with his staff was very important for Levine’s recognition of the work being done at Prism. He called the meeting very frank and open and said his staff appreciated the recognition from such a high-ranking government official.
Carlo said the goal to reverse the statistics on syphilis by the end of the year and the goal to eliminate HIV by the year 2030 “are possible, but it requires an investment of resources to get where we need to be. It’s going to take a significant amount of work. In Dallas, we need to double our effort if we’re going to meet those goals.”
With the staff of both agencies, Levine shared some of her personal story in a way that everyone related. “I was honored to be able to observe that emotional connection,” Carlo said.
