Gupta: Family — not money — were key to deciding to stay at CNN

CNN medical correspondent said it was a difficult decision to turn down a job as surgeon general in the Obama administration, but said it came down to his personal life, and not money.

“It was a very, very hard decision,” Gupta said in an interview with CNN colleague Anderson Cooper. “Certainly I was very flattered, and honored, and humbled even to be considered for this.”

Gupta said that his wife is expecting another child shortly, which weighed heavily on his interest in taking on the high demands of the surgeon general.

“This was much more personal about time with family and the personal career,” Gupta said.

“That was a sacrifice I was certainly willing to make,” he explained about the large pay cut he’d have to take, leaving behind his CNN job and surgical practice. “It was really not about the money at all.”

“I think clearly any time that people can’t get healthcare that is available to other people, that’s a broken system,” Gupta opined about the current healthcare system.

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