United States Public Health Service Military Officers Association

United States Public Health Service Military Officers Association of America RADM Margaret M. Kitt, MD, MPH Assistant Surgeon General Deputy Director National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Overview • Public Health Service is a team of more than 6, 700 fulltime, well-trained, highly qualified public health professionals • Dedicated to delivering: – The Nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs – Advancing public health science • All officers are presidentially appointed • Officers are assigned to over 18 Operating Divisions, 9 US Departments, and over 800 locations worldwide

Overview con’t • Fill essential public health leadership and service roles within the Nation’s Federal Government agencies and programs • Serve by providing essential health care services to underserved and vulnerable populations • Known as America’s Health Responders

USPHS History 1798 - Marine Hospital Service established 1889 - PHS Commissioned Corps officially established by Congress, with rank and pay similar to Navy 1912 - Renamed Public Health Service 1939 - Transferred from the Treasury Department to the Federal Security Agency (now known as the Department of Health and Human Services)

Marine Hospitals • Established by President John Adams • Medical care for merchant seamen • Vital for economic development and national security Castle Island in Boston Harbor was chosen as the temporary site for the first marine hospital -1799

USPHS Commissioned Corps Today

USPHS Commissioned Corps Mission Protecting, promoting, and advancing the health and safety of the nation

USPHS Commissioned Corps Core Values Leadership Service Integrity Excellence

USPHS Commissioned Corps Leadership • The Surgeon General is the leader of the Commissioned Corps • U. S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral (VADM) Jerome M. Adams, M. D. , M. P. H. – Reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health – Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services • Acting Assistant Secretary for Health Don Wright, M. D. , M. P. H.

U. S. Public Health Service • Dual personnel system-civil servants and Commissioned Corp officers • Approximately 60, 000 employees – Roughly 6, 700 active duty officers (no enlisted) • Serves as a flexible, value-added, human capital asset for Operating divisions positions or initiatives requiring public health expertise.

U. S. Public Health Service • Hold positions in the areas of: • Health care delivery • Disease control and prevention • Biomedical research • Regulation of food, drugs, and medical devices • Mental health and drug abuse

Professional Categories • • • Dentist Dietitian Engineer Environmental Health Services Nurse • • • Pharmacist Physician Scientist Therapist Veterinarian

HHS Operating Divisions • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) • Indian Health Service (HIS)

HHS Operating Divisions con’t National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (ASH) Office of the Secretary Program Support Center (PSC) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) • Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) • • •

Non-HHS Agencies/Programs District of Columbia Commission on Mental Health Services Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Park Service (NPS) U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) U. S. Department of Defense (Do. D) U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Division of Immigration Health Services (DIHS) – U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) • U. S. Marshals Service (USMS) • •

Where Do We Work

Selected Emergency Response and Deployments Corps officers have been deployed on over 350 missions, some examples: • 2001: 9/11; anthrax attacks • 2004: Indian Ocean tsunami • 2005: Hurricane Katrina/Rita • 2008: Hurricane Gustav/Ike • 2010: Haiti earthquake • 2010: Deepwater Horizon • 2010: Japan earthquake • 2012: Super-storm Sandy

Selected Emergency Response and Deployments con’t • 2013: Boston Marathon bombing • 2014 - 2015: Ebola • 2015: Unaccompanied minors from Mexico • 2016: Zika • 2017: Hurricane Harvey/Irma • Numerous flood/icestorms • Medical outreach to underserved populations

Do. D-USPHS Partnership for Psychological Health • Memorandum of agreement signed in 2008 • Initiative was designed to ensure that service members, their families, and veterans receive resources they need by increasing the availability of behavioral health services • Behavioral health officers are detailed to military medical treatment facilities across the Nation to treat service members who are returning from overseas deployment

USPHS Attributes • Corps officers are stationed in nearly every community in the US, including underserved and vulnerable assignments • Active duty 24/7 • Adaptable, mobile, and deployable active duty force ready to meet public health needs and demands • Unique as facilitators and representatives of national health priorities

Differences Between Uniformed and Armed Services • USPHS’s focus is on delivering the Nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science • Non-military uniformed service are not typically trained in arms • Have opportunities to participated in voluntary short-term efforts providing public health emergency response and disaster recovery support

USPHS Distinctiveness • Unique statutory responsibility of being an active duty medical infrastructure of the US Coast Guard and the NOAA Corps • Provides direct medical care to federal prisons and responsibility of being designated law enforcement officers • Only uniformed service with these obligations regarding provision of medical services

USPHS Distinctiveness • In times of war or national emergency, the President has by Executive Order declared the Corps to be a military service – In this status, the Corps constitutes a branch of the land naval forces of the US and are subject to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice • Corps is the only uniformed service in the world that is – dedicated to public health – Commissioned by the President – Deployed by the HHS Secretary

Questions?