The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) is an agency of the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...

that manages health care activities for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. 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 Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

in Fairfax County, Virginia. BUMED has 63,000 medical personnel and more than a million eligible beneficiaries.

History

BUMED was one of the original five Navy bureaus formed in 1842 to replace the

Board of Navy Commissioners The Board of Navy Commissioners was a United States Navy administrative body in existence from 1815 to 1842, with responsibility for the navy's material support. The three-member Board was created as part of an expansion of the U.S. Navy Departme ...

. It is one of two bureaus still in existence. BUMED was headquartered at the

Old Naval Observatory The Old Naval Observatory is a historic site at 23rd and E Street in Northwest, Washington, D.C. It is where the United States Naval Observatory was located from 1844 to 1893, when it moved to its present grounds. The original observatory build ...

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 Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, was merged in 2011 with

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, it se ...

to form the joint Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a result of the

2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It was the fifth Base Realignment and Closure ("BRAC") proposal generated since the process was created in ...

. The merged facility came under the jurisdiction of the new

Joint Task Force National Capital Region/Medical The Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical (JTF CapMed), also known as National Capital Region Medical, is located on the Naval Support Activity Bethesda campus in Bethesda, Maryland and was established by the Deputy Secretary of Defen ...

, 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 The Defense Business Board was established in 2001 as a complement to broader transformation efforts in the Department of Defense from an overly burdensome bureaucracy to a more streamlined, effective organization. The Board consists of approxi ...

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 The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is a joint, integrated combat support agency that enables the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Co ...

(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.

Organization

Departments

The commanding officer of BUMED is the

Surgeon General of the United States Navy The surgeon general of the Navy (SGN) is the most senior commissioned officer of the Medical Corps of the United States Navy and is the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and director of the ...

, a rear 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 U.S. Coast Guardmaster chief petty officercollar device U.S. Coast Guardmaster chief petty officersleeve rating insignia United States Navymaster chief petty officer collar insignia United States Navymaster chief petty officer shoulder ...

because of its status as an enlisted rating. The other department heads are mostly either rear admirals or civilians. * M00: Corps Chiefs ** M00C1: Chief,

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medica ...

** M00C2: Chief, Dental Corps ** M00C3: Chief, Nurse Corps ** M00C4: Director, Medical Service Corps ** M00C5: Director, Hospital Corps ** M00C6: Director, Civilian Corps * Deputy Chief, Total Force (DCTF) ** M1: Manpower and Resources ** M7: Education and Training * Deputy Chief, Business Operations (DCBO) ** Fleet Support & Logistics (M4) ** Information Management & Technology (M6) * Deputy Chief, Resource Management/Comptroller (DCRM/C) ** Deputy Director, Financial Management (M8) ** Assistant Deputy Chief, Capabilities Requirements (M9) * Deputy Chief, Operations, Plans & Readiness (OP&R) ** M2: Research and Development ** M3: Health Care Operations ** M5: Patient Safety, Clinical Quality & High Reliability/Office of the Chief Medical Officer (M5)

Subordinate commands

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Full Width

San Diego, CA Old Naval Hospital aerial, 1950s

US Navy 030428-N-9643K-001 The Navy accepted the new U

BUMED operates the following facilities and commands: *Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Falls Church, Virginia Naval Medical Forces Atlantic: *

Naval Medical Forces Atlantic Naval Medical Forces Atlantic was established August 2005 as Navy Medicine East and is a Flag_officer, flag level command reporting directly to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Naval Medical Forces Atlantic is responsible for administrative com ...

, Portsmouth, Virginia **

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth The Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), formerly Naval Hospital Portsmouth, and originally Norfolk Naval Hospital, is a United States Navy medical center in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States. It is the oldest continuously running hospital ...

, Portsmouth, Virginia ** Naval Hospital Beaufort,

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...

Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune is a Defense Health Agency facility that is located on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US ...

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilming ...

** Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Guantanamo, Cuba ** Naval Hospital Jacksonville,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

** Naval Hospital Naples,

Naples, Italy Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

** Naval Hospital Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida ** Naval Hospital Rota,

Rota, Cádiz The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city o ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

** Naval Hospital Sigonella, Sigonella, Italy **

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC), opened on October 1, 2010, and is the United States' first federal health care center that partners the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense into ...

Great Lakes, Illinois Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center ...

** Naval Health Clinic Annapolis, Annapolis, Maryland ** Naval Health Clinic Charleston,

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is the third-largest city in the state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charlest ...

Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point The Naval Health Clinic, Cherry Point is a military treatment facility located aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point providing medical care to United States uniformed service members, beneficiaries and retirees living and serving in the E ...

Cherry Point, North Carolina Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

** Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas **

Naval Health Clinic New England Naval Health Clinic New England is a medical clinic providing health care for the Navy that serves in the Northeast region. It is a part of Naval Station Newport. The clinic provides medical care to 70,000 beneficiaries. Despite the name, Naval He ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Patuxent River, Maryland The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northea ...

** Naval Health Clinic Quantico,

Quantico, Virginia Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east ...

2nd Dental Battalion 2nd Dental Battalion (2nd Den Bn) is unit of the United States Navy that supports United States Marine Corps forces. The battalion includes ten dental clinics and annexes spread throughout North Carolina. The unit is based out of Marine Corps B ...

Naval Medical Forces Pacific: * Naval Medical Forces Pacific,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

Naval Medical Center San Diego Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), also known as Bob Wilson Naval Hospital and informally referred to as "Balboa Hospital", or "The Pink Palace" (because the stucco of the first buildings that were constructed was pinkish in color), is a tech ...

Naval Hospital Bremerton The Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) is a United States Navy hospital located on Naval Station Bremerton in Bremerton, Washington. Naval Hospital Bremerton is a fully accredited, community-based acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary healt ...

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton is a large US Navy medical treatment facility in Oceanside, California, part of the United States' Military Health System. Located on Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton South, California in San Diego County. The curre ...

Camp Pendleton, California Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

** Naval Hospital Lemoore, Lemoore, California ** Naval Hospital Oak Harbor,

Oak Harbor, Washington Oak Harbor is a city located on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. The population was 22,075 at the 2010 census. Oak Harbor was incorporated on May 14, 1915. History Oak Harbor - otherwise known as Kla-tole-tsche in t ...

** Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms,

Twentynine Palms, California Twentynine Palms (also known as 29 Palms) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Twentynine Palms serves as one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park. History Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in ...

Naval Hospital Guam United States Naval Hospital Guam is a U.S. Navy medical facility on the U.S. territory of Guam. It provides a broad range of medical services to active-duty U.S. military personnel under Joint Region Marianas. Besides the main hospital, the hospi ...

Agana Heights, Guam Agana Heights ( ch, Tutuhan) is one of the nineteen villages in the United States territory of Guam. It is located in the hills south of Hagåtña (formerly Agana), in the central part of the island. United States Naval Hospital Guam is locate ...

** Naval Hospital Okinawa,

Okinawa, Japan is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan United States Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan with its eight branch clinics are US Navy medical treatment facilities catering to the medical needs of eligible Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, family members, U.S. government employees, retired mili ...

Yokosuka, Japan is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

** Naval Health Clinic Hawaii,

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

1st Dental Battalion The 1st Dental Battalion is a Fleet Marine Force unit of the United States Navy. The battalion includes fifteen dental clinics spread throughout California and Arizona. The unit is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and falls under t ...

3rd Dental Battalion The 3rd Dental Battalion is a unit of the United States Navy that supports United States Marine Corps forces on Okinawa, Japan. The battalion includes nine dental clinics, approximately 77 Dental Officers, 4 Medical Service Corps officers, 18 ...

Naval Medical Forces Support Command: * Naval Medical Forces Support Command,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

** Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,

** Navy Medicine Training Support Center,

** Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, Pensacola, Florida Other commands: *

Naval Medical Research Center The Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) is an agency that performs basic and applied biomedical research to meet the needs of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Its areas of focus include study of infectious diseases, biodef ...

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

** Naval Health Research Center,

Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory The Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) is located on the New London Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. The laboratory's mission is to protect the health of American sailors, focused on submarines and scuba diving. It is a su ...

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London i ...

Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton (NAMRU-D) is a biomedical research laboratory of the United States Navy in Dayton, Ohio. It is one of seven subordinate commands of the Naval Medical Research Center and incorporates two research divisions. The ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

** Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio,

** Naval Medical Research Unit 2,

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** Naval Medical Research Unit 3, Cairo, Egypt ** Naval Medical Research Center Asia,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

** Naval Medical Research Unit 6, Lima, Peru *

Naval Medical Logistics Command A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Fort Detrick, Maryland Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...

** Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity,

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Co ...

* Navy Medicine Information Systems Support Activity,

* Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, Portsmouth, Virginia ** Navy Drug Screening Lab Jacksonville,

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. *

USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) USNS ''Mercy'' (T-AH-19) is the lead ship of her class of hospital ships in non-commissioned service with the United States Navy. Her sister ship is . She is the third US Navy ship to be named for the virtue mercy. In accordance with the Genev ...

USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) USNS ''Comfort'' (T-AH-20) is a of the United States Navy. ''Comfort''s duties include providing emergency, on-site care for U.S. combatant forces deployed in war or other operations. Operated by the Military Sealift Command, ''Comfort'' pro ...

, Norfolk, Virginia

References

9. Navy Medicine Leadership. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=602

External links