‘99 Westmont grad acting as health, human services head

BY DAVE SUTOR

DSUTOR@TRIBDEM.COM

Dr. Dorothy Fink, a 1999 Westmont Hilltop High School graduate, has risen to the highest levels of the federal government as part of President Donald Trump’s new administration.

She is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ acting secretary, a Cabinet-level position. The Republican president named her to the temporary post Jan. 20.

Fink, who was not available for comment, will serve in the acting role until the U.S. Senate confirms a full-time secretary of health and human services.

Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the position. Kennedy passed through a Senate Finance Committee vote, sending his nomination to the full Senate for consideration.

Her father, Robert Fink, of Westmont, shared some thoughts about his daughter’s appointment and the response the family has received from friends and the community.

“It’s nice that people recognize

Please see ALUM, A2

Fink

Continued from A1

she’s achieved something not many people will achieve,” Robert Fink said during a telephone interview Wednesday.

“It’s surreal to think that she was able to make a mark of this size at such a young age.”

Dorothy Fink is a boardcertified doctor in endocrinology, internal medicine and pediatrics. She obtained a degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she was named to USA Today’s All American First Place Team.

In 2003, then-first lady Laura Bush mentioned Fink during a graduation address at Georgetown.

“Dorothy Alanna Fink, of Johnstown, Pa., who received four special awards at the commencement, including one for outstanding undergraduate research in chemistry, was cited by Bush for her community service at Lombardi Cancer Center, which is affiliated with Georgetown,” The Washington Post reported at the time. “Bush commended Fink’s support for a young leukemia patient there and her initiative in starting a science program for pediatric cancer patients to teach them about medicine.”

Fink then completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

She joined HHS in 2018 and eventually became director of the Office on Women’s Health.

Beyond the accomplishments and accolades, Fink’s father described her as an “unwavering” and “admirable” person.

“To be honest, she always pursued goals that were out of her comfort zone,” he said.

“She was always like a stretch-goal kind of a person. She’s very committed. She’s a great doctor because she’s very caring. She’s very thorough in her practice, very successful.

“She just wanted to do more to help more of the American people. She left her practice in New York to take the position at Health and Human Services for the Office on Women’s Health. I guess that’s probably my best description of her. She’s just a very modest person.”

Fink’s appointment is one of the biggest political accomplishments ever for anybody from the Johnstown region.

“Westmont Hilltop School District is proud of all its graduates and is very pleased when they make a significant achievement,” said former Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Robert Gleason, who is now the Westmont Hilltop School District board president. “I will be asking Dorothy to visit our students in the future.”

Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-5325056. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Sutor.