The Honorable Dr. David J. Shulkin was the ninth Secretary of the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be Special Guest Speaker at the 5th Annual Salute to American Veterans Ball (AVB2022) on Friday, May 20th, 2022 at the MGM National Harbor, MD. Nominated by President Trump to serve in his Cabinet, Secretary Shulkin was confirmed by the U. S. Senate by a vote of 100-0. Secretary Shulkin previously served as Under Secretary for Health having been appointed by President Obama and confirmed unanimously by the US Senate.

As Secretary, Dr. Shulkin represented the 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated health care system with over 1,200 sites of care, serving over 9 million Veterans. VA is also the nation’s largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor to medical research and provides veterans with disability payments, education through the GI bill, home loans, and runs a national cemetery system.

Prior to coming to VA, Secretary Shulkin was a widely respected healthcare executive having served as chief executive of leading hospitals and health systems including Beth Israel in New York City and Morristown Medical Center in Northern NJ. Secretary Shulkin has also held numerous physician leadership roles including the Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital. Secretary Shulkin has held academic positions including the Chairman of Medicine and Vice Dean at Drexel University School of Medicine. As an entrepreneur, Secretary Shulkin founded and served as the Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality one of the first consumer-orientated sources of information for quality and safety in healthcare. He has served on boards of managed care companies, technology companies, and health care organizations.

Secretary Shulkin is the 2018 University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute Distinguished Health Policy Fellow. He is a board-certified internist. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, his internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and a residency and Fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

Over his career Secretary, Shulkin has been named as one of the Top 100 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems by Becker’s Hospital Review and one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in the Country” by Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician. He has also previously been named, “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare.