Corps
From PHSChat Wiki
The origins of the Public Health Service (PHS) can be traced to the passage of an act in 1798 that provided for the care and relief of sick and injured merchant seamen. Reorganization in 1870 converted the loose network of locally controlled hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The position of Supervising Surgeon (later Surgeon General) was created to administer the Service, and John Maynard Woodworth was appointed as the first incumbent in 1871. He moved quickly to reform the system and adopted a military model for his medical staff, instituting examinations for applicants and putting his physicians in uniforms. Woodworth created a cadre of mobile, career service physicians who could be assigned as needed to the various marine hospitals. The uniformed services component of the Marine Hospital Service was formalized as the Commissioned Corps by legislation enacted in 1889.
Today the mission of the Commissioned Corps of the PHS is "Protecting, promoting, and advancing the health and safety of the Nation."
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Links
Images From the History of the Public Health Service
See Also
- USPHS Commissioned Corps
- Media:Corps Fact Sheet.pdf
- Military Customs and Courtesy
- UNITED STATES CODE TITLE 36 CHAPTER 10 Patriotic Customs
References
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