Correspondence

Correspondence, subject files, briefing materials, speeches and presentations, published and draft writings, committee meeting minutes, reports, publicity, and audiovisual and photographic materials which chronicle the professional career of cardiologist and health administrator Dr. Bernadine Healy.

A small amount of personal records comprises Series 1, consisting of calendars, family material, and information on Dr. Healy's education, awards and acknowledgements, and personal correspondence. Dr. Healy often received and wrote personal correspondence from her various professional offices. As such, additional personal correspondence may be found mixed within Series 2 through 6.

The NIH Directorship series (Series 2) comprises the bulk of the collection. It consists primarily of correspondence, briefing packets, meeting minutes, reports, and speech materials documenting Dr. Healy's appointment and service as Director of the National Institutes of Health. The series contains information regarding Dr. Healy's role establishing the Women's Health Initiative and drafting the organizations first strategic plan. Other notable topics documented in the correspondence, briefings, and media subseries include the NIH's fetal tissue ban, scientific misconduct, and allegations of sexism at NIH. Briefings, minutes, and notes pertaining to the Human Genome Project, which involved conflict between Dr. Healy and the project's head researcher James D. Watson over gene-patenting, can be found in the briefings and meetings subseries which is organized strictly chronologically. Video recordings of interviews and news stories pertaining to Dr. Healy's role as Director can be found in Series 11 (Audiovisual Materials).

The third series (Cleveland Clinic) contains correspondence, presentations, and reports pertaining to Dr. Healy's role as Chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's Research Institute. While the bulk of the correspondence is arranged alphabetically, Dr. Healy maintained name files on some individuals. These name files contain both correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other related documents related to that person. Because Dr. Healy also served as President of the American Heart Association while at the Cleveland Clinic, there is some overlap, especially in correspondence, between this series and Series 4 (AHA Presidency). The series contains correspondence and annotations from Kathleen J. Vaughn (Kathy), Dr. Healy's secretary, as well as Christine Kassuba, Dr. Healy's editorial assistant. One subseries, grants and funding, is restricted. The phone logs found in the office administration subseries often contain patient names and are restricted according to HMD's PHI policy.

Series 4 (American Red Cross Presidency) contains primarily correspondence, reports, and media related to Dr. Healy's role as President and CEO of the American Red Cross from September 1999 to December 2001. Notable topics addressed are the Red Cross's blood supply policy decisions after outbreaks of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Dr. Healy's support for recognition of the Israeli David Magen Adom disaster response organization, as well as the Red Cross' response to the September 11 attacks and controversy surrounding handling of Liberty Fund donation monies. Video recordings of interviews and news stories pertaining to Dr. Healy's role as President and CEO of the American Red Cross, specifically relating to the blood supply and the response to the September 11 attacks, can be found in Series 11 (Audiovisual Materials).

Series 7 (Professional Activities) contains correspondence, notes, publications, and other documents relating to Dr. Healy's many professional activities and affiliations she held in addition to her major positions. Notable affiliations include the American College of Cardiology, the Harvard Board of Overseers, the Institute of Medicine, the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Ohio Council on Research and Economic Development, and U.S. News & World Report, among others. The series is organized alphabetically by organization title.

Many of Dr. Healy's speeches and presentations can be found in series nine. The series contains reading copies, drafts, slides, correspondence, and other supporting material for speeches and presentations which she gave over the course of her career. Importantly, speeches given by Dr. Healy at NIH, the Cleveland Clinic, and the American Red Cross can be found in Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4, respectively.

The bulk of Dr. Healy's writings are found in Series 10 (Writings and Publications), which contains reprints, manuscripts and drafts, correspondence, photographs, copyright agreements, and additional supporting documents relating to Dr. Healy's published and unpublished writings. The series is organized into six subseries, the first four of which are based on the publications section of Dr. Healy's CV: Books, Peer-Reviewed Journals, Science and Health Policy Articles, and Book Chapters. The publications list found at the beginning of the series serves as an index to these first four subseries, which are organized chronologically by publication date and numbered as they are in the publications list. The last two subseries, Newspapers and Magazines, and Additional Writings and Drafts, contain copies of articles which Dr. Healy wrote for newspapers and magazines. Especially notable are copies of many of the columns she wrote as U.S. News & World Report's Health Editor. Most of Dr. Healy's earliest writings were published under her first married name: Dr. Bernadine Bulkley.