Clinton Visits Doctor; They Later Play Golf

President-elect Bill Clinton went to the doctor Saturday for the third time in a month, then took a break from deliberations on Cabinet selections by playing golf.

Clinton, who hopes to fill out the eight remaining Cabinet spots before Christmas, spent more than an hour and a half at St. Vincent Hospital for what aides described as “routine medical tests” connected with a physical examination. Clinton gave a thumbs-up as he emerged from the hospital.

The tests were made by Andrew Kumpuris, a cardiologist, who later joined Clinton for golf at Chenal Country Club. On Friday, Clinton visited Dr. James Suen, a throat and voice disorder specialist, to examine a throat that had been irritated by allergies and the heavy use it received during Clinton’s two-day economic conference last Monday and Tuesday.

Some senior members of Clinton’s staff also worked a short day, or not at all Saturday, despite indications that the Clinton team is considering last-minute adjustments in the eight Cabinet members and other senior officials they have yet to name. Clinton has come under pressure in recent days from women’s groups and some Latino leaders because of news reports indicating the 14-member Cabinet was shaping up to include only two women and one Latino.

Still to be named are the Cabinet posts of attorney general and the secretaries of defense, state, transportation, Interior, energy, education and agriculture. Also unfilled are the high-level jobs of national security adviser and CIA director.

Dr. Joycelyn Elders, head of the Arkansas Department of Health, confirmed Saturday that Clinton has asked her to become surgeon general, but said she doesn’t plan to take the job until next summer. The delay would give the current surgeon general, Dr. Antonia Coello Novello, an opportunity to complete some agency programs she has begun, Elders said.

In developments on other senior posts, Mickey Kantor, the Los Angeles attorney who chaired Clinton’s campaign, is under consideration for U.S. trade representative, aides said. And Madeleine Albright, foreign policy expert at Georgetown University, has been mentioned as a possible U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

In Boston, Robert B. Reich, the labor secretary-designee, was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying he will try to persuade Clinton not to force companies to spend money on worker training, without first giving them an opportunity to voluntarily comply.

A key element in Clinton’s platform was a pledge to seek a law requiring businesses to spend 1.5% of their payrolls for training. Since the average U.S. firm now spends about 1.5% of payroll on training, many would be unaffected.