If Dr. Gupta is ‘in,’ does Atlanta get shot in arm?

Atlanta medical officials are hoping that if celebrity doctor Sanjay Gupta becomes the next U.S. surgeon general, he will highlight health care issues important to his hometown institutions.

As associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital, Gupta experienced firsthand the many travails the hospital must overcome as it serves as the region’s last-ditch hope for poor people to receive medical care.

Grady CEO Michael Young, the hospital’s new leader, is among those who would look forward to conversations about issues critical to Grady’s mission.

“I’ll ask him to articulate his thoughts and beliefs on public hospitals,” Young said. He also would ask Gupta to focus on the need for more coordination of care among hospitals that specialize in trauma care for life-threatening injuries, such as Grady.

“The president, the president’s staff and the leaders in the House and Senate will look to his ideas,” Young said. “His comments will have incredible presence and respect, and can drive outcomes spectacularly.”

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan, who is a current member of the nonprofit board overseeing Grady, said he believes the appointment could benefit the hospital. “It would show the quality of Grady,” he said, “that a Grady doctor could be thrust into a national leadership post.”

Gupta is also familiar with the workings of Emory University, where he has served as an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the university’s School of Medicine and as a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital. His time at Emory and Grady could help shape his priorities on the national stage, said Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, Emory University’s executive vice president for health affairs.

“It would be his using these experiences in his vocabulary and as examples,” Sanfilippo said. Local ventures, such as the community efforts to save Grady hospital, could be highlighted as part of broader national initiatives, he said, adding to the prestige of Atlanta.

As CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Gupta has often used the expertise at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Personally, I’ve long held Dr. Gupta in high regard,” CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said Wednesday. “Communicating credible health information has always been one of the most important roles for the surgeon general, and I’m sure Dr. Gupta would be extremely successful in that role.”

As surgeon general, Gupta would oversee the U.S. Public Health Service, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services. About 800 of the service’s commissioned corps work at the CDC as scientists and researchers. The surgeon general does not supervise them on a daily basis, but the surgeon general’s role escalates over the corps during national emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina.

News organizations and the blogosphere have jumped on the possibility that a doctor with such celebrity could be the next surgeon general. Some commentators on the left and right have mocked the prospect with suggestions such as the next appointment would be Judge Judy to the U.S. Supreme Court.

At the same time, national medical experts have praised Gupta’s credentials as a doctor and communicator. Some national medical experts point out that the surgeon general focuses more on communication than administration, and has no direct budget power over many items that affect local medical institutions. Moreover, the person serving must be careful not to damage his or her credibility by favoring certain hometown institutions, they say.

Metro Atlanta has already seen one of its own serve as surgeon general. Dr. David Satcher served in the post from 1998 to 2002. During that period, he focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health.

Former surgeon general Dr. Richard Carmona said that apart from a sense of pride and prestige among hometown institutions, there are few local benefits.

He said Atlanta and its medical institutions did not overtly benefit during Satcher’s tenure in the position.

Satcher, who now serves as director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute of Morehouse School of Medicine, said a surgeon general’s work “benefits the entire nation, including Atlanta.”