In a country of nearly 310,000,000, the burdens placed on
hospitals are both enormous and complex as they attempt to
provide first rate health care to an ever-increasing population
while adhering to strict and sometimes contradictory regulations
from several different sources. To understand the scope of
issues a hospital may face on any given day, it is important to
become familiar with the building blocks that make up today’s
health care hierarchy. Who is responsible for oversight? At the
top of the health care pyramid is the nation’s President, Barack
Obama. Underneath the President lies a complex organization of
individuals and agencies at both the federal and state level,
who make up the gargantuan structure commonly referred to as
health care. The President directly oversees the Office of the
Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The following is the Organizational Chart for HHS: Leading the
HHS is the Acting Secretary, who is responsible for protecting
the health of all American