Bureau of Medical Services
Defunct US federal agency / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bureau of Medical Services (BMS) was a unit of the United States Public Health Service (PHS) that existed in two incarnations. The first was one of three principal operating agencies of PHS from 1943 until 1966, while the second was a division of the PHS Health Services Administration from 1973 until 1982. Both incarnations of the bureau had the principal responsibility of operating the PHS hospital system that had been founded in 1789.
Agency overview | |
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Formed | December 30, 1943; 80 years ago (1943-12-30) |
Preceding agency |
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Dissolved | December 31, 1966; 57 years ago (1966-12-31) |
Superseding agency | |
Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Parent agency | U.S. Public Health Service |
Upon the formation of BMS in 1943, the system had already reached its peak of 30 hospitals, and this number decreased throughout BMS's existences as hospitals were closed. The first incarnation of BMS also had responsibilities in medical examination of foreigners entering the country, funding construction of hospitals by the states, researching the effective utilization of medical personnel and services, and providing healthcare to Native Americans.
The original BMS was broken up at the beginning of the Public Health Service reorganizations of 1966–1973, but a second incarnation of BMS was established at their end as a division of the Health Services Administration within PHS. This incarnation of BMS inherited only the hospital system and closely related functions, with the other programs located in other divisions. The system reached its final number of nine in 1970, and the system was abolished in 1981 with all but one hospital transferred to other organizations. The bureau was merged with another division in 1982 to form the current Bureau of Primary Health Care.
The other divisions of the original BMS now form the Indian Health Service, part of the Healthcare Systems Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Federal Occupational Health within the Department of Health and Human Services Program Support Center.