Establishment of The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
On 31 August 1842, the United States Congress passed a Navy appropriation bill that was a blueprint for efficiency. The legislation provided for five Navy bureaus United States Navy bureau system to replace the outdated Board of Navy Commissioners—Yards and Docks; Construction, Equipment, and Repair; Provisions and Clothing; Ordnance and Hydrography; and Medicine and Surgery. Heading each of the bureaus was a “Chief” to be appointed by the President of the United States.
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) became the central administrative headquarters for the Navy Medical Department, and those names became interchangeable. The general order of 26 November 1842, which defined the duties of the new bureaus, charged BUMED with:
- All medicines and medical stores of every description, used in the treatment of the sick, the diseased and the wounded;
- All boxes, vials, and other vessels containing the same;
- All clothing, beds, and bedding for the sick;
- All surgical instruments of every kind;
- The management of hospitals, so far as the patients therein are concerned;
- All appliances of every sort, used in surgical and medical practice;
- All contracts, accounts, and returns, relating to these and such other subjects as shall hereafter be assigned to this bureau.
Overseeing all of these duties, and directing the medical department, was the Chief of BUMED, William P. C. Barton. Barton served at this post until 1844. He was followed by Thomas Harris, William Whelan, Phineas Horwitz, and William Maxwell Wood. Since the days of Barton’s directorship the most senior ranking physician in the Navy Medical Department has held the title of Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
Read more about this topic: Surgeon General Of The United States Navy
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