Ex-Health Official to Become AIDS Policy Chief

President Clinton today plans to name Kristine M. Gebbie, a former practicing nurse and state health official, as the Administration’s AIDS policy chief, officials said Thursday.

The announcement will end a long and ill-starred search during which at least two other candidates turned the job down, in part because of concerns about whether the post--heading an office in the White House--will have the authority to coordinate and guide federal AIDS efforts.

Clinton is scheduled to make the announcement at a morning ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

The Administration had been under considerable pressure to make a decision on the job soon, and AIDS activist groups and others have made no secret of their impatience. The National Commission on AIDS is scheduled to release a report Monday that is expected to criticize Clinton, in part for his failure to appoint an AIDS coordinator.

Clinton promised quick action on AIDS during his campaign and has proposed increased federal spending on AIDS research and on programs aimed at treating and preventing the disease.

The purpose of the new post is to coordinate the activities of the many federal agencies that deal with aspects of the AIDS crisis--from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health.

Gebbie, who was a highly regarded member of the AIDS commission established by former President Ronald Reagan, has been considered for the job since Clinton began his search. She has served as state health chief in Oregon and Washington and is an expert in epidemiology.

She formerly headed the AIDS task force for the Assn. of State and Territorial Health Officials and once taught at UCLA. She now chairs the CDC’s AIDS advisory committee, which is reviewing all of the center’s AIDS programs.

Gebbie left her Washington state post last November because new Gov. Mike Lowry “wanted to put in his own people,” she said some months ago.

She is considered knowledgeable about AIDS and has been praised by numerous AIDS organizations and public health officials for her views on dealing with the burgeoning epidemic.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health and the environment, praised the appointment, saying Gebbie “has a clear-eyed understanding of the AIDS epidemic as a health professional, as a state administrator and as a federal adviser. We need her skills advising the President and in coordinating federal efforts now because there’s a lot to be done and there’s no time and money to waste.”

Clinton’s first choice had been Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, New York City’s health commissioner, who gave birth two weeks ago to her first child. She turned the job down, in part because she felt she could not begin a new post while nurturing a newborn.

The President’s second choice was Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), who was said to be reluctant to give up his seat in Congress.