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Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt has seen the world as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), but when his term is over, he's planning nothing more than coming home to Utah.
Leavitt says the title "Mister Secretary" came with a lot of responsibility for him. "When you deal with a department that's as large as this one, 25 percent of the federal budget, you're exposed to many different parts of the government," he said.
We spoke with Secretary Leavitt by satellite. He recalled how 9/11 reshaped HHS, just as it reshaped our way of life. Then after hurricane Katrina, a lot landed on Leavitt's plate and more changes had to be made. "We have remade the way emergencies are responded to, and I think it will be something that has a great deal of impact in the future," Leavitt said.
At HHS, there are the duties most people expect; for example, vaccination clinics and programs to handle chronic disease. But Leavitt says there's more, like increased security on food and medical supplies shipped in from other countries. In the interest of fighting AIDS, malaria, polio, pandemic flu and more, he's visited 43 nations around the world as a health diplomat.
In October, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blamed the Bush Administration for hampering health care reform. "Both Secretary Thomson and Secretary Leavitt were hamstrung by the White House in ways that make no sense to me. It's just tragic," he said.
Leavitt responded by saying, "I'll be involved in the debate, but I'll be involved in a different way; and I think Speaker Gingrich is right in that many of the ideas that I have advocated and things that I have done will be a big part of that debate now."
Leavitt says he plans to write about the past, do speeches on the future and decide in the spring what's next in the long term.
E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com
