Active 1842–present Branch Navy Size 63,000 | Country United States Type Medical | |
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Part of United States Department of the Navy | ||
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) is an agency of the United States Department of the Navy that manages health care activities for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. BUMED operates hospitals and other health care facilities as well as laboratories for biomedical research, and trains and manages the Navy's many staff corps related to medicine. Its headquarters is located at the Defense Health Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. BUMED has 63,000 medical personnel and more than a million eligible beneficiaries.
Contents
History
BUMED was one of the original five Navy bureaus formed in 1842 to replace the Board of Navy Commissioners. It is one of two bureaus still in existence. BUMED was housed at the Old Naval Observatory from 1942 until 2012.
In 2005, Navy Medicine aligned its shore facilities into four overarching commands: Navy Medicine East, Navy Medicine West, Navy Medicine National Capital Area, and Navy Medicine Support Command. In 2012, Navy Medicine Support Command was renamed and realigned into the Navy Medicine Education and Training Command, with its non-training units becoming independent under BUMED. Navy Medicine National Capital Area's largest component, the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was merged in 2011 with Walter Reed Army Medical Center to form the joint Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The merged facility came under the jurisdiction of the new Joint Task Force National Capital Region/Medical, and in 2013, Navy Medicine National Capital Area was disestablished, with its few remaining facilities transferred to Navy Medicine East.
While a 2006 report of the Defense Business Board recommended that the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical commands be merged into a single joint command, citing savings in budget and personnel, this recommendation was not carried out and in 2012 the Defense Health Agency (DHA) was established separately from the military medical commands. All three military medical commands were however all moved to share the new Defense Health Headquarters facility in Falls Church with DHA, again as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure.
Departments
The commanding officer of BUMED is the Surgeon General of the United States Navy, a Vice Admiral. BUMED is divided into ten departments, each referred to with an alphanumerical code. Each of the staff corps is headed by a Rear Admiral, except for the Hospital Corps which is headed by a Force Master Chief Petty Officer owing to its status as an enlisted rating. The other department heads are mostly either Rear Admirals or civilians.
Subordinate commands
BUMED operates the following facilities and commands:
Navy Medicine East:
Navy Medicine West:
Education and Training Command:
Other commands:
Hospital ships:
While the Medical Treatment Facility on each hospital ship is operated by BUMED's medical personnel, the ships themselves are operated by civilian mariners employed by Military Sealift Command.