Story highlights Sebelius says Benjamin should be proud of her achievements 
 
 Before her nomination, she served as CEO of an Alabama health clinic 
 
 She has been in the post for four years 
 
 U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced late Wednesday that she will step down next month after four years in the post. 
 
 Benjamin, a longtime advocate for a health care model centered on wellness and preventive treatment, announced her decision in an e-mail to staff, thanking them for supporting her vision. 
 
 "My goal was to create a grassroots movement, to change our health care system from one focused on sickness and disease to a system focused on wellness and prevention. With your help, that movement has begun," Benjamin wrote. 
 
 In an e-mail to staff, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said Benjamin should be "proud of her many achievements." 
 
 "Regina has served as America's doctor since 2009 and has impacted the health and lives of Americans across the country. I am deeply grateful for her leadership and service," Sebelius wrote. "The Surgeon General's road to prevention has touched the lives of millions of Americans and has had a positive impact on the health of this Nation." 
 
 As surgeon general, Benjamin chaired the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, which was created under the Affordable Care Act to develop a strategy to improve access to care. 
 
 "Regina has been passionate about changing our health care system from one focused on sickness and disease to a system focused on wellness and prevention," Sebelius said. 
 
 Prior to her nomination, Benjamin served as CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama, which she founded in 1990. 
 
 The Alabama native was also the first African-American woman board member of the American Medical Association, and served a term as chairwoman of the group's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. 
 
 Deputy Surgeon General Boris D. Lushniak will serve as interim surgeon general until a permanent pick is nominated. 

 WASHINGTON - U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, a Mobile native, is stepping down next month after four years as America's top doctor. 
 
 "I loved serving as (surgeon general), putting prevention in all we do," Benjamin said in a message posted to her Twitter account today. "I leave next month confident we created a more healthy & fit nation." 
 
 In an email to staff Wednesday, Benjamin said she will remain involved in public health. 
 
 “The Surgeon General announced (Wednesday) that she will be stepping down next month," said Dori Salcido, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. "We are grateful for her leadership and service.” 
 
 Benjamin, 56, was appointed surgeon general by President Barack Obama in 2009. In recent weeks, she has been named by Democratic Party officials as a potential candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile. 
 
 Benjamin is widely respected for founding a rural health clinic in Bayou La Batre, which she kept going although it was wiped out three times by fire and hurricanes. She told the Associated Press that she plans to volunteer seeing patients at the clinic. 
 
 Benjamin was born in Mobile and graduated from Fairhope High School. She received her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 2002 she was named president of the state medical society of Alabama, and was the first African-American woman to hold that position. 
 
 As surgeon general, she promoted disease prevention, smoking cessation and healthy lifestyles, particularly among minorities. Benjamin oversaw a report that documented how smoking, even an occasional cigarette or secondhand smoke, can cause immediate damage to the human body. 
 
 Benjamin has been named as a top target by Democratic officials seeking to flip Bonner's congressional seat in conservative southwest Alabama, held by Republicans since 1965. Bonner announced he is resigning effective Aug. 15 to take a position at the University of Alabama. 
 
 Benjamin did not respond to telephone messages from AL.com seeking comment on whether she would run for the seat. She said in an interview with WKRG-TV that she will resign effective July 16 and return to Alabama. 
 
 "It's been four years. It's a long time to be a way from home..and it's been a good, three, four years and it's also been a wonderful opportunity," Benjamin told news anchor Rose Ann Haven by telephone. "But, I'm ready to make a difference and take on other challenges." 
 
 Benjamin said she looked forward to re-connecting with patients and friends in the Mobile area, and suggested she may be open to a run for elected office. 
 
 "The thing I'm gonna do right now is take a couple of weeks and rest and enjoy the summer a little bit and come home for Fourth of July and then kind of look at whatever challenges are out there and really make a difference," Benjamin said.
– Four years after her appointment by President Obama, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is leaving the job next month, she announced last night. "My goal was to create a grassroots movement, to change our health care system from one focused on sickness and disease to a system focused on wellness and prevention. With your help, that movement has begun," she wrote in an email to staff. She tweeted that she "loved" her job, AL.com reports. "I leave next month confident we created a more healthy & fit nation." Health secretary Kathleen Sebelius applauded Benjamin's "passionate" work, CNN reports. Deputy Surgeon General Boris Lushniak will take on the interim post ahead of the selection of a new surgeon general. As for Benjamin's next step, her name has emerged as a possible candidate for Congress in her native Mobile, Ala., in a seat long held by Republicans.