Rafael Rodríguez Mercado is a Puerto Rican

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

and military officer. He was the

Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico The Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico ( es, Secretario de Salud de Puerto Rico) leads the Department of Health of Puerto Rico and all efforts related to health in Puerto Rico. Secretaries * 1977–1984: Jaime Rivera Dueño * 1985– ...

from 2017 until his resignation in 2020. Rodríguez Mercado previously served as chancellor of the

University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus The University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus — Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ciencias Médicas (UPR-RCM) in Spanish— is a public health sciences-oriented university in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is part of the Univ ...

Early life and education

Rodríguez Mercado was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. He graduated from High School at

Colegio San Conrado Colegio San Conrado is a private Catholic school in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1948 by the Capuchin Friars, under the direction of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, New York. Currently the School is owned by the Diocese of P ...

. Rodríguez Mercado earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, and a Doctor of Medicine from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine The University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, School of Medicine is located in the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's the only medical school in the University of Puerto Rico System. I ...

, and completing a Residency in Neurological Surgery. He completed studies in Endovascular Neurosurgery at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

Academic career

Rodríguez Mercado was the first to practice Endovascular Neurosurgery in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

since 1997. Currently (2018) he is Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine and director of the Endovascular Neurosurgery Program of that institution. He also leads the same program at ASEM Stroke Medical Center and, since 2001, is the director of the Fellows Training Program in Neuroendovascular Surgery at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. There, he has trained physicians from many countries in this specialty as well had lecture conferences in many countries and published papers in peer review journals. Rodríguez Mercado is a member of 15 international medical societies and has participated in several scientific research projects. Currently (2018) he is licensed to practice medicine in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

. In 2010, after a year as Interim Chancellor at the

, he was named Chancellor of the Medical Sciences Campus of The University of Puerto Rico. In January 2017, Ricardo Rosselló, Governor of Puerto Rico, appointed Rodríguez Mercado as Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico. In September 2017, he was appointed as Associate Professor of Surgery initially and them promoted in February 2019 to Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the

Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a Outline of health sciences, health science university of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduate ...

. In April 2019, was appointed Professor of Surgery at

Ponce Health Sciences University The Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), formerly Ponce School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is a private, for-profit university in Ponce, Puerto Rico and St. Louis, Missouri. It awards graduate degrees in Medicine (MD), Clinical Psycholog ...

as part of his academic and military career. Rodríguez Mercado is a

Fellow of the American College of Surgeons Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (or FACS) is a professional certification for a medical professional who has passed a set of criteria for education, qualification, and ethics required to join the American College of Surgeons. ''FACS'' ...

and a Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons.

Military career

Rodríguez Mercado began his military career in 1988. He served in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

, Medical Corps, as Command Surgeon in the

1st Mission Support Command 1st Mission Support Command is a United States Army Reserve command providing support to military units based in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Headquartered at Fort Buchanan within the metropolitan area of the Puerto Rico's capital San J ...

Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico United States Army Garrison Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, is a United States Army installation in Puerto Rico. It is located in the metropolitan area of the capital, San Juan. History Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish Empire from the time of Ch ...

. He served in

Puerto Rico National Guard The Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG) – es, Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico– is the national guard of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and s ...

as Assistant Surgeon and Field Surgeon at

Camp Santiago Camp Santiago Joint Training Center is a military training installation controlled by the Puerto Rico National Guard on 16,000 acres of land located in Salinas, Puerto Rico. This training facility was named posthumously after Medal of Honor recip ...

. He was from 2000 to 2006 also a staff neurosurgeon at

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...

and

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC, a 425-bed Academic Medical Center, is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 Trauma Center. BAMC ...

. He was Commander of the 369th Army Reserve Hospital Surgical Unit. Currently (2017), he was Associate Professor of Surgery and promoted in February 2019 to Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad in the medical corps as ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

on an IMA position. In 2022 he received the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

medal.

Military decorations

Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico

On 12 January 2017, he was appointed as 22nd Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico by Governor Ricardo Rosselló. His tenure as Health Secretary was marred with criticism over the Health Department's handling of mayor emergencies which affected Puerto Rico such as

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

, the 2020 earthquakes and the agency's botched handling of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak as well as questionable Health Department contracts given to people associated with the governor's political campaign.

COVID-19 Outbreak Response

cases were increasing in other states and countries, Rodríguez Mercado seemingly downplayed the urgency of the situation stating that the probability of a

outbreak in Puerto Rico was unlikely. As suspected

cases on the island grew, the agency resisted performing tests and sending them to the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

by setting a high bar on whom the tests should be performed. In one particular instance, an island doctor managed to convince the agency to test a patient only after pleading with CBS reporter

David Begnaud David Begnaud (born June 13, 1983) is an American journalist and news correspondent. Begnaud works for CBS News, and is currently based in New York City as the Lead National Correspondent for CBS Mornings. His reporting has been featured across CB ...

, after the Health agency denied requests to test his patient.

Resignation

On March 13, 2020, under public pressure and at the behest of governor

Wanda Vázquez Garced Wanda Emilia Vázquez Garced (born July 9, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2019 to 2021. Prior to her tenure as governor, she served as the 19th secretary of Justice, from 2017 to 201 ...

, he immediately resigned to the position of Secretary of Health. His resignation came after the confirmation of several cases of

on the island which included the case the agency had initially resisted on testing, as well as findings that the test samples were sent later than had been publicly announced, and that there had been documentation errors that caused subsequent delays in reporting. He was succeeded by interim secretary

Concepción Quiñones de Longo Concepción Quiñones de Longo is a Puerto Rican pediatrician and government official. She was the interim Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico in March 2020 and had previously served as the undersecretary of Rafael Rodríguez Mercado. Quiñones d ...

Personal life

Rodríguez Mercado is married to medical technologist, Wanda Santiago Pimentel. He has one son.

References

External links

1st MSC Command Surgeon nominated as Secretary of Health for Puerto Ri

Rafael Rodriguez-Mercado, MD, FAANS, FACS - University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus - Professor Neurosurgery

Panelists share global engagement successes at home and abroad .

Rafael Rodriguez-Mercado.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez Mercado, Rafael 1961 births Living people Members of the 17th Cabinet of Puerto Rico Military personnel from Ponce Puerto Rican military officers Physicians from Ponce Secretaries of Health of Puerto Rico Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) United States Army reservists University at Buffalo alumni University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine alumni University of Puerto Rico faculty American neurosurgeons 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American physicians United States Army Medical Corps officers 20th-century surgeons