This article is about the public health official. For the Minnesota politician, see Erica Schwartz (politician).
Erica Schwartz
Schwartz as Deputy Surgeon General
Allegiance  United States
Branch  United States Navy
USPHS Commissioned Corps
Service years 1997–2005 (Navy)
2005–2021 (Public Health Service)
Rank Rear admiral
Commands Deputy Surgeon General of the United States
Acting Surgeon General of the United States
Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Coast Guard
Awards Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal (2)
Surgeon General Medallion
Coast Guard Commendation Medal
Navy Commendation Medal
Public Health Service Presidential Unit Citation
Alma mater Brown University (BS, MD)
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (MPH)
University of Maryland (JD)
Spouse Dr. Daniel Schwartz

Erica G. Schwartz is a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who was Deputy Surgeon General from January 2019 to April 2021. Prior to this, she served in several positions with the U.S. Coast Guard, including as their Chief Medical Officer during 2015–2019, and before that as Chief of Health Services and Chief of Preventive Medicine at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, becoming its principal expert on flu pandemics.

On April 16, 2026, President Donald Trump nominated Schwartz to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Early life and education

Schwartz's father was a career Navy master chief petty officer stationed in San Diego, and she has three siblings who served in the military.[1] She enrolled in Brown University's eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education, graduating with a degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in East Asian studies in 1994, and an M.D. in 1998.[1] She was commissioned by the Navy in 1994.[1]

She earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2000, and completed a residency in occupational and environmental medicine there in 2001. Schwartz also has a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland[when?] and has been admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.[2]

Career

Early career

Schwartz was in the U.S. Navy until 2005.[3] She was an occupational medicine physician with postings that included Chief of the Occupational Medicine Clinic and the Immunization Clinic and serving as the Preventive Medicine Department Head of the Annapolis, Maryland Naval Medical Clinic. Schwartz also served at the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.[2]

In 2005, she transferred from the Navy to the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.[3] She served as Chief of Preventive Medicine during 2005–2013 and Chief of Health Services during 2013–2015, at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC.[2][4] She was appointed as the Coast Guard's principal expert on flu pandemics. Schwartz was awarded one Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, both the Coast Guard and Navy Commendation Medals, and in 2011 was recognized as one of the Military Health System female physicians of the year.[2]

Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer

Rear Admiral Schwartz as Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer c. 2015.

Schwartz was appointed to the rank of rear admiral in the PHS Commissioned Corps and became the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer on August 17, 2015.[3][2] As chief, she concurrently served as the Coast Guard's Director of Health, Safety and Work-Life and had responsibility for managing the service's 42 clinics and 150 sick bays. She oversaw the Coast Guard's environmental health and safety program, focusing on risk management and accident prevention. She also led the service's work-life programs including: child care, culinary services, substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention, personal financial management, ombudsman, health promotion, and employee assistance.[2]

In January 2018, Schwartz testified before the House Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on the need for the service to transition to an electronic health record system, in line with the other services of the U.S. Armed Forces. She stated that the current paper-based record and prescription system did not allow efficient transfer of records from the Coast Guard to the Department of Veterans Affairs.[5]

Deputy Surgeon General

Schwartz was appointed Deputy Surgeon General on January 1, 2019. She was the point person for the Department of Health and Human Services during the presidential transition from the first Trump administration to the Biden administration. She was not chosen by the incoming Biden administration to serve as Acting Surgeon General, and chose to resign in early 2021, concluding 27 years of combined uniformed service.[6][7]

Private career

As of 2022, Schwartz was President of Insurance Solutions for United Healthcare.[8] She additionally joined the board of directors of Georgia-based home care provider Aveanna Healthcare in May 2021 for a three-year term,[4] and of medical imaging company Butterfly Network in September 2021.[9]

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

On April 16, 2026, President Donald Trump named Schwartz as his nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Bunch, Will (April–May 2020). "Health Warrior". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Rear Admiral Erica Schwartz" (PDF). US Coast Guard. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Braynard, Katie (17 August 2015). "Rear Adm. Erica Schwartz to take over as chief medical officer". Coast Guard All Hands. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Aveanna Elects Former Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH to Board of Directors". Aveanna. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  5. ^ Cebul, Daniel (1 February 2018). "GAO: Manual health records put Coast Guard personnel at risk". Federal Times. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  6. ^ Diamond, Dan (2021-01-25). "Biden to tap nurse as acting surgeon general". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  7. ^ Diamond, Dan (2021-01-20). "Surgeon General resigns at Biden's request". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  8. ^ "Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc.: Schedule 14A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2022-03-30. p. 12. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  9. ^ Parker, Kevin (10 September 2021). "Butterfly Network Appoints Erica Schwartz to Board". citybiz. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Trump officially taps health veteran to lead CDC, avoiding vaccine skeptics". The Washington Post.
  • Rear Admiral Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH - Deputy Surgeon General Official Bio Archived 2020-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
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