After completing her training in pediatrics and psychiatry at New York City's
Mount Sinai Hospital, Levine moved from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993 where she joined the faculty of the
Penn State College of Medicine and the staff at
Penn State Hershey Medical Center. During her tenure, she created Penn State Hershey Medical Center's Division of Adolescent Medicine and the Penn State Hershey Eating Disorders Program. She was in charge of the latter when she was nominated for the position of Pennsylvania physician general in 2015. A 2016 statewide audit of Pennsylvania nursing homes found "outdated regulations, dangerously low staffing requirements for nurses, and overarching issues with weak and inconsistent inspections." Three years later the Pennsylvania
auditor general found little had changed.
COVID-19 response with Gov.
Tom Wolf at the
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in June 2020 During 2020 and until January 23, 2021, Levine led the public health response on
COVID-19 in Pennsylvania as the state secretary of health. She worked closely on a daily basis with the
FEMA director and led a daily press briefing. Levine also came in for criticism over her handling of the pandemic, particularly in regard to nursing home patients. On March 18, 2020, Levine directed nursing homes to admit new patients, including "stable patients who have had the COVID-19 virus” despite the warnings of nursing home trade groups that such policies "could unnecessarily cost more lives." Although the stated purpose of this decision was to alleviate overcrowding in "acute care settings”, according to a team of reporters from the
USA Today Network and
Bucks County Courier Times, hospitals in most Pennsylvania counties were not experiencing overcrowding at the time. Spotlight PA also repeatedly reported on erroneous reporting of COVID deaths and other data by state officials. On May 12, 2020,
WHTM reported that following the change in nursing home admissions policies, Levine had moved her own mother out of a nursing home. Levine defended the move: " 'My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,' Levine said. 'My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.' " The issue of Levine's mother and the high COVID death toll in Pennsylvania nursing homes would momentarily be highlighted nationally after President Biden nominated Levine for the post of US
Assistant Secretary for Health. As
Newsweek reported, "The criticism ... has come from a few Republican leaders ..." In July 2021 the
US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it would not be investigating "whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital." Her confirmation hearing with the
Senate HELP Committee took place on 25 February. On 17 March, the committee voted 13–9 to advance her nomination for a full Senate vote. On 24 March, the Senate voted 52–48, with all Democrats and two Republicans —
Susan Collins from
Maine and
Lisa Murkowski from
Alaska — joining all members of the
Senate Democratic Caucus to confirm her nomination. Levine is the first openly transgender person to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. On 19 October 2021, Levine was
commissioned as a four-star admiral in the
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the
United States uniformed services as well as the first female four-star admiral in the Commissioned Corps.
LGBTQ health disparities Shortly after her confirmation, Levine told
NBC News that
LGBTQ youth are topmost in her mind when it comes to addressing health disparities in the United States. She cited bullying, suicide, discriminatory policies, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic as pressing issues among LGBTQ youth. Levine has also expressed concerns about vaccine hesitancy among LGBTQ youth who are more likely to experience medical distrust and less likely to seek medical care. During an April 2022 speech at
Texas Christian University, Levine criticized "disturbing – and frankly discriminatory – laws and actions" that many states have implemented that affect the lives of LGBTQ youth. In an interview with
NPR, she cited a range of policies, including Florida's "
Don't Say Gay" bill and Texas' push to investigate parents who provide
gender-affirming care to their transgender children. Arguing that such policies are based on politics rather than public health, Levine encouraged people to contact the
Office for Civil Rights when they feel discriminated against and vowed to provide support to those who contact her office. == Personal life ==