An assistant surgeon general, Rear Admiral Eric B. Broderick has served as the acting administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration since August 2008, overseeing a staff of more than 500 and a budget of $3.3 billion.
Broderick attended college at Indiana University, where he received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. He completed a General Practice Residency at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Seattle, WA. In 1988, he received a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Oklahoma and in 1990 he attained a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health.
His first job was with the Indian Health Service, and worked in clinical settings in the western United States. He then joined the Public Health Service, embarking on a 34-year career working as a clinician and as an administrator managing health program operations, health policy development and program assessments. He has focused his career on the health needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives. In 2002, he was promoted to rear admiral in the
Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service.
He has served as the director of the
Division of Oral Health and as acting deputy director of the Office of Public Health for the Indian Health Service. Between 2002 and 2005 he served as Senior Advisor for Tribal Health Policy in the Immediate Office of the Secretary for the
Department of Health and Human Services. He joined the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2006.