This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (February 2012)

U.S. Army Medical Command
The U.S. Army Medical Command shoulder sleeve insignia incorporates a modified caduceus with snakes entwining a winged sword, rather than the conventional staff.
Active	1993 - Present
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Medical Command
Garrison/HQ	Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas
Commanders
Current commander	LTG Patricia Horoho
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

  The new Army Medicine logo.

The U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) is a major command of the U.S. Army that provides command and control of the Army's fixed-facility medical, dental, and veterinary treatment facilities, providing preventive care, medical research and development and training institutions.

MEDCOM is commanded by the Army Surgeon General, currently Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho. The Surgeon General is also head of the U.S. Army Medical Department (the AMEDD).

  Structure and subordinate commands

MEDCOM is divided into Regional Medical Commands that oversee day-to-day operations in military treatment facilities, exercising command and control over the medical treatment facilities in their regions. There are currently five of these regional commands:

• Europe Regional Medical Command
• Southern Regional Medical Command
• Northern Regional Medical Command
• Pacific Regional Medical Command
• Western Regional Medical Command

• Additional subordinate commands of MEDCOM include:
  • Army Medical Department Center & School (AMEDDC&S)
  • U.S. Army Public Health Command (USAPHC), known as the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion & Preventive Medicine prior to 1 October 2009, the U.S. Army Veterinary Command (VETCOM) was merged with USAPHC in 2011.
  • U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
  • Warrior Transition Command
  • U.S. Army Dental Command (DENCOM)

  Operations

  In garrison (peacetime)

MEDCOM maintains day-to-day health care for soldiers, retired soldiers and the families of both. Despite the wide range of responsibilities involved in providing health care in traditional settings as well as on the battlefield, the Army Medical Department's quality of care compares very favorably with that of civilian health organizations, when measured by civilian standards.^{[citation needed]} Many Army medical facilities report on their own quality-of-care standards on their individual website.^{[citation needed]}

  Deployments

When Army field hospitals deploy, most clinical professional and support personnel come from MEDCOM's fixed facilities. In addition to support of combat operations, deployments can be for humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, and other stability and support operations. Under the Professional Officer Filler System (PROFIS), up to 26 percent of MEDCOM physicians and 43 percent of MEDCOM nurses are sent to field units during a full deployment. To replace PROFIS losses, Reserve units and Individual Mobilization Augmentees (non-unit reservists) are mobilized to work in medical treatment facilities. The department also provides trained medical specialists to the Army's combat medical units, which are assigned directly to combatant commanders.

Many Army Reserve and Army National Guard units deploy in support of the Army Medical Department. The Army depends heavily on its Reserve component for medical support—about 63 percent of the Army's medical forces are in the Reserve component.

  History

As the post–Cold War Army shrank, the U.S. Army’s Human Services Command (HSC) decided to change the way it did business and operate more like a corporation. In 1992, HSC launched “Gateway To Care”, a businesslike approach to health-care delivery. This was to be localized managed care, with improved quality, access and cost. In a design based more on catchment-area management than the previous “CHAMPUS Reform Initiative” (CRI), U.S. Army hospital commanders received more responsibility and managerial authority. Eleven “Gateway to Care sites opened in the spring of 1992. By that fall, all HSC facilities had submitted business plans which were favorably received. Starting in 1994, “Gateway To Care” was gradually absorbed into a new regional Defense Department tri-service managed-care plan called TRICARE, which was modeled on CRI.

In August 1993, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff approved a plan to reorganize the AMEDD. The merger of several medical elements resulted in a new, expanded medical major command under the Surgeon General. In October 1993, the "U.S. Army Medical Command (Provisional)" began a one-year process of replacing HSC and absorbing other AMEDD elements. Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Alcide M. LaNoue commanded the provisional MEDCOM, while Maj. Gen. Richard D. Cameron continued as HSC commander. In November 1993, DENCOM and VETCOM were formed as provisional commands under the MEDCOM, to provide real command chains for more efficient control of dental and veterinary units—the first time those specialties had been commanded by the same authorities who provided their technical guidance. The next month, seven MEDCEN commanders assumed command and control over care in their regions. The new "Health Service Support Areas" (HSSAs), under the MEDCOM, had more responsibility and authority than the old HSC regions. In March 1994, a merger of Medical Research and Development Command, the Medical Material Agency and the Health Facilities Planning Agency resulted in creation of the Medical Research, Development, Acquisition and Logistics Command (MRDALC), subordinate to the provisional MEDCOM. The MRDALC was soon renamed the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). Then, in June 1994, an additional HSSA was formed to supervise medical care in Europe, replacing the 7th Medical Command, which inactivated. That summer, the Army Environmental Hygiene Agency formed the basis of the provisional Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM).

Thus, in an unprecedented process of unification, U.S. Army medicine gradually came together in a new home under the command of the Surgeon General. Except for the field medical units commanded by the combat commanders, virtually all of Army medicine is now part of the MEDCOM. The MEDCOM became fully operational, dropping the "provisional," in October 1994. In 1996, the HSSAs were renamed Regional Medical Commands.

  See also

• Army Medical Department (United States) ("the AMEDD")
  • Including: Medical Corps, Nurse Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, Medical Specialist Corps
• Category:Medical units and formations of the United States Army
• List of former United States Army medical units

  References

• This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain.

  External links

• Army Medical Department, OTSG, Falls Church VA
  • Also: Army Medical Department, Fort Sam Houston, TX
• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
• Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
• San Antonio Military Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, TX
• Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia
• Landstuhl Army Medical Center, Germany
• Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA
• Womack Army Medical Center, Ft. Bragg, NC
• Beaumont Army Medical Center, Ft. Bliss, TX
• Army Medical Department, Fort Sam Houston, TX
  • Also: Army Medical Department, OTSG, Falls Church VA
• Army Dental Command, Fort Sam Houston, TX
• Army Veterinary Command, Fort Sam Houston, TX

United States Army Medical Command Portal:United States Army · Category:United States Army Leadership Surgeon General of the United States Army · Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Army Medical Department Officers Medical Corps · Nurse Corps · Dental Corps · Veterinary Corps · Medical Service Corps · Medical Specialist Corps Enlisted Enlisted medical soldiers Major Subordinate Commands Regional commands North Atlantic RMC  · Southeast RMC  · Great Plains RMC · Western RMC · Europe RMC · Pacific RMC Others AMEDD Center & School · U.S. Army Dental Cmd · U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Cmd  · U.S. Army Public Health Cmd · U.S. Army Warrior Transition Cmd Installations Fort Sam Houston · Fort Detrick (with Forest Glen Annex) Medical Centers (MEDCENs) Stateside Brooke AMC · Tripler AMC · Eisenhower AMC · Madigan AMC · Womack AMC · Beaumont AMC · Carl R. Darnall AMC Overseas Landstuhl AMC Medical Department Activities (MEDDACs) Hospitals Bassett ACH • Bayne Jones ACH • Blanchfield ACH • Brian Allgood ACH • DeWitt ACH • Evans ACH  • General Leonard Wood ACH • Ireland ACH  • Irwin ACH • Keller ACH • Martin ACH • McDonald ACH • Moncrief ACH • Reynolds ACH • Weed ACH • Winn ACH Clinics Bliss AHC  • Barquist AHC • Bavaria MEDDAC  • DiLorenzo TRICARE HC • Dunham AHC • Fairfax FHC • Fox AHC  • Guthrie MEDDAC  • Heidelberg MEDDAC  • Kimbrough ACC  • Kenner AHC  • Kirk AHC • Lyster AHC  • Munson AHC  • Rader AHC • Woodbridge AHC  • Camp Zama Field medical units Medical Commands AR-MEDCOM (807th MDSC, 3rd MDCS) Medical Groups 5th Med Gp • 55th Med Gp • 67th Med Gp • 307th Med Gp • 139th Med Gp Medical Brigades 1st Med BDE • 2nd Med BDE • 8th Med BDE • 30th Med BDE • 32nd Med BDE • 44th Med BDE • 62nd Med BDE • 65th Med BDE • 330th Med BDE • 332nd Med BDE • 338th Med BDE • 804th Med BDE Combat Support Hospitals 10th CSH • 28th CSH • 115th CSH • 121st CSH • 349th CSH Forward Surgical Teams 541st Medical Detachment, Forward Surgical (Airborne) Education Centers, schools, etc AMEDD Center & School · U.S. Army School of Aviation Medicine · Borden Institute Museums National Museum of Health and Medicine · AMEDD Museum Courses Captains Career Course · Walter Reed Tropical Medicine Course Products Textbook of Military Medicine · War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq Research Institutes & Centers Stateside Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) · U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) · U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) · U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (ISR) · U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) · U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research Overseas Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science (AFRIMS) · U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya (USAMRU-K) Historical List of former United States Army medical units Other Walter Reed Health Care System · Military Vaccine Agency · Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care

United States Army Leadership Secretary of the Army · Under Secretary of the Army · Chief of Staff · Vice Chief of Staff · 4-star generals · Sergeant Major of the Army · House Armed Services Committee (House Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces) · Senate Committee on Armed Services (Senate Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces) Components and commands Regular Army · Army Reserve · Army National Guard · Active Units Army Commands Training and Doctrine · Materiel · Installations Service Components Forces · Africa · Central · Europe · Pacific · North · South · Special Operations · Surface Deployment and Distribution · Space and Missile Defense Direct Reporting Units Network Enterprise Technology · Medical · Intelligence and Security · Criminal Investigation · Corps of Engineers · Military District of Washington · Test and Evaluation Command · Military Academy · Reserve · Acquisition Support Center · Installation Management Field Armies First · Second · Third · Fifth · Sixth · Seventh · Eighth Branches Acquisition Corps · Adjutant General's Corps · Air Defense Artillery Branch · Armor Branch · Aviation Branch · Army Band · Chaplain Corps · Chemical Corps · Civil Affairs Corps · Corps of Engineers · Dental Corps · Field Artillery Corps · Finance Corps · Infantry Branch · Inspector General's Corps · Judge Advocate General's Corps · Logistics Branch · Medical Corps · Medical Service Corps · Medical Specialist Corps · Military Intelligence Corps · Military Police Corps · Nurse Corps · Ordnance Corps · Psychological Operations Corps · Quartermaster Corps · Signal Corps · Special Forces · Transportation Corps · Veterinary Corps Installations The Pentagon · United States and Overseas · Germany · Iraq · Kosovo · Kuwait · South Korea Training Basic Training · BOLC · OCS · WOBC · WOCS · West Point · MOS Uniforms and insignia Awards and decorations · Badges · Branch · Officer · Warrant · Enlisted · Uniforms Equipment Individual Weapons · Crew-Served Weapons · Vehicles History and traditions History · Continental Army · National Army · Army of the United States · United States Army Air Forces · Center of Military History · Institute of Heraldry · America's Army · Army Art Program · Army Band · Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps · Flag · National Museum · Rangers · Soldier's Creed · The Army Goes Rolling Along · Draft · Service numbers Category · Portal