1. 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

2. Overview
Public Health Service is a team of more than 6,700 full-time, 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. USPHS Commissioned Corps Today

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

8. USPHS Commissioned Corps Core Values
Leadership Service Integrity Excellence

9. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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

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

14. 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)

15. 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)

16. 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 (DoD)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Division of Immigration Health Services (DIHS)
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
U.S. Marshals Service (USMS)

17. Where Do We Work

18. 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

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

20. DoD-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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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 and 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

25. Questions?