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News Release

SECRETARY THOMPSON TO INCREASE NUMBERS AND FLEXIBILITY OF
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE COMMISSIONED CORPS
New Force to Be Better Prepared to Respond to Public Health and Emergency Needs of Americans

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a new effort to expand and strengthen the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by recruiting more health care professionals and better preparing those professionals to respond quickly and effectively to emergency health needs around the country.

The Secretary's plan to revitalize the Commissioned Corps represents its most sweeping transformation since its creation in 1889 as the corps will become a more effective medical health unit, prepared to assist in public health needs anywhere the Secretary believes help is needed. The revitalization focuses on creating an effective, flexible, and truly deployable force that is ready to respond to public health and emergency needs across the country or around the world.

"As we face an uncertain future of possible terrorist attacks, emerging infectious diseases, natural disasters, and other prevention or public health needs, this transformation will help us strengthen our public health infrastructure and response system to better serve the American people," Secretary Thompson said. "That is why this transformation is so vital."

The transformation will forge the Commissioned Corps into a more highly trained, fully deployable force that is prepared to respond to emergency situations. The new structure will put in place a modern force management system that provides for the recruitment and retention of the highest quality health professionals in a uniformed service and assures the capacity for immediate response and deployment.

"This is an exciting time for the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps," U.S. Surgeon General and Commander of the Commissioned Corps Richard H. Carmona said. "This first step will lead to a stronger and more versatile corps that will be able to respond to any public health emergency. I thank Secretary Thompson for his continued leadership and vision and look forward to helping implement his plan over the coming weeks and months."

As part of the transformation, the Commissioned Corps will:

• Work to create scholarships to recruit as many as 1,000 nurses and 100 doctors per year to work in medically underserved areas.
• Identify PHS officers who can assist in reducing staffing shortages in clinical settings in the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the National Health Service Corps, as well as assist with President Bush's plan to increase Community Health Center capacities throughout the nation.
• Recruit at least 275 new officers to support the IHS by September 30, 2004.
• Improve and expand training and deployability of PHS officers into areas where primary care services are lacking.
• Phase out the existing Commissioned Corps Readiness Force structure, and replace it with a revised system designed to bring the status of the Commissioned Corps to 100 percent deployability by the end of 2005.
• Create additional short term duty missions and "rolling deployments" to address Presidential and Secretarial initiatives directed toward serving critical needs through the use of active duty and reserve officers who will be called to temporary active duty.
• Provide a modernized reserve component system that can marshal resources for deployment at the local level for needed public health initiatives.
• Establish a ready reserve corps that will supplement the efforts of the Commissioned Corps.
• Open new opportunities for registered nurses and other credentialed health personnel who hold an associate degree and appropriate credentials.

This transformation will unfold over the next several months and under the leadership provided by the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Surgeon General.

As one of the seven Uniformed Services of the United States, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is a specialized career system designed to attract, develop, and retain health professionals who may be assigned to federal, state, or local agencies or international organizations to accomplish its mission.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: July 3, 2003