10 U.S.C. § 1073d: Military medical treatment facilities

To support the medical readiness of the armed forces and the readiness of medical personnel, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall maintain the military medical treatment facilities described in subsections (b), (c), and (d). The Secretary of Defense shall maintain medical centers in areas with a large population of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries. Medical centers shall serve as referral facilities for members and covered beneficiaries who require comprehensive health care services that support medical readiness. Inpatient and outpatient tertiary care facilities that incorporate specialty and subspecialty care. Graduate medical education programs. Residency training programs. Level one, level two, or level three trauma care capabilities. The Secretary shall designate certain major medical centers as regional centers of excellence for the provision of specialty care services in the areas of specialty care described in subparagraph (D). A major medical center may be designated as a center of excellence under this subparagraph for more than one such area of specialty care. Post-traumatic stress. Traumatic brain injury. Such other conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate. ensuring the military medical force readiness of the Department of Defense and the medical readiness of the armed forces; improving the quality of health care furnished by the Secretary to eligible beneficiaries; and improving health outcomes for eligible beneficiaries. Oncology. Burn injuries and wound care. Rehabilitation medicine. Psychological health and traumatic brain injury. Amputations and prosthetics. Neurosurgery. Orthopedic care. Substance abuse. Infectious diseases and preventive medicine. Cardiothoracic surgery. Such other areas of specialty care as the Secretary determines appropriate. Centers of excellence designated under this paragraph shall be the primary source within the military health system for the receipt by eligible beneficiaries of specialty care. Eligible beneficiaries seeking a specialty care service through the military health system shall be referred to a center of excellence designated under subparagraph (A) for that area of specialty care or, if the specialty care service sought is unavailable at such center, to an appropriate specialty care provider in the private sector. Not later than 90 days prior to the designation of a center of excellence under this paragraph, the Secretary shall notify the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate of such designation. In this paragraph, the term “eligible beneficiary” means any beneficiary under this chapter. The Secretary of Defense shall designate and maintain certain military medical treatment facilities as core casualty receiving facilities, to ensure the medical capability and capacity required to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate large volumes of combat casualties and, as may be directed by the President or the Secretary, provide a medical response to events the President determines or declares as natural disasters, mass casualty events, or other national emergencies. The Secretary shall ensure that the military medical treatment facilities selected for designation pursuant to subparagraph (A) are geographically located to facilitate the aeromedical evacuation of casualties from theaters of operations. shall ensure that the Secretaries of the military departments assign military personnel to core casualty receiving facilities designated under subparagraph (A) at not less than 90 percent of the staffing level required to maintain the operating bed capacity necessary to support operation planning requirements; may augment the staffing of military personnel at core casualty receiving facilities under subparagraph (A) with civilian employees of the Department of Defense to fulfill the staffing requirement under clause (i); and shall ensure that each core casualty receiving facility under subparagraph (A) is staffed with a civilian Chief Financial Officer and a civilian Chief Operating Officer with experience in the management of civilian hospital systems, for the purpose of ensuring continuity in the management of the facility. The term “core casualty receiving facility” means a Role 4 medical treatment facility that serves as a medical hub for the receipt and treatment of casualties, including civilian casualties, that may result from combat or from an event the President determines or declares as a natural disaster, mass casualty event, or other national emergency. The term “Role 4 medical treatment facility” means a medical treatment facility that provides the full range of preventative, curative, acute, convalescent, restorative, and rehabilitative care. The Secretary of Defense shall maintain hospitals in areas where civilian health care facilities are unable to support the health care needs of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries. inpatient and outpatient health services to maintain medical readiness; and such other programs and functions as the Secretary determines appropriate. is cost effective; or is not available at civilian health care facilities in the area of the hospital. The Secretary of Defense shall maintain ambulatory care centers in areas where civilian health care facilities are able to support the health care needs of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries. Ambulatory care centers shall provide the outpatient health services required to maintain medical readiness, including with respect to partnerships established pursuant to section 706 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. is cost effective; or is not available at civilian health care facilities in the area of the ambulatory care center. In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each covered facility maintains, at a minimum, inpatient capabilities that the Secretary determines are similar to the inpatient capabilities of such facility on September 30, 2016 . replace the inpatient capabilities the Secretary proposes to eliminate; and ensure members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries who receive health care from such covered facility, have, within a distance the Secretary determines is reasonable, access to quality health care, including case management and translation services. The Secretary has consulted with the commander of the geographic combatant command in which such covered facility is located to ensure that the proposed elimination would have no impact on the operational plan for such geographic combatant command. a transition plan for continuity of health care for such member or covered beneficiary; and a public forum to discuss the concerns of the member or covered beneficiary regarding the proposed reduction. In this subsection, the term “covered facility” means a military medical treatment facility located outside the United States. the Secretary submits to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate a notification of the proposed modification in scope; a period of 180 days has elapsed following the date on which the Secretary submits such notification; and if the proposed modification in scope involves the termination or reduction of inpatient capabilities at a military medical treatment facility located outside the United States, the Secretary has provided to each member of the armed forces or covered beneficiary receiving services at such facility a transition plan for the continuity of health care for such member or covered beneficiary. An endorsement from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the proposed modification will have no effect on operational requirements of the armed forces. An endorsement from the Surgeon General of the military department concerned that the proposed modification will have no effect on the training or readiness of military medical personnel in the military department concerned. An assessment from the Director of the Defense Health Agency that explains how members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries receiving services at the facility will continue to receive care. Not later than October 1, 2024 , the Secretary of Defense shall designate four military medical treatment facilities as core casualty receiving facilities under section 1073d(b)(5) of title 10 , United States Code (as added by subsection (a)). Not later than October 1, 2025 , the Secretary shall ensure that each such designated military medical treatment facility is fully staffed and operational as a core casualty receiving facility, in accordance with the requirements of such section 1073d(b)(5).” ocular wounds or injuries; and vision dysfunction related to traumatic brain injury. Each center of excellence established under subsection (a) shall be located at a military medical center that provides graduate medical education in ophthalmology and related subspecialties and shall be the primary center for providing specialized medical services for vision for members of the Armed Forces in the region in which the center of excellence is located. Not later than October 1, 2023 , the Director of the Defense Health Agency shall publish on a publicly available internet website of the Department of Defense policies for the referral of eligible beneficiaries of the Department to centers of excellence established under subsection (a) for evaluation and treatment. The Secretary of each military department, in conjunction with the Joint Staff Surgeon and the Director of the Defense Health Agency, shall identify specific medical personnel billets essential for the evaluation and treatment of ocular sensory injuries and ensure that centers of excellence established under subsection (a) are staffed with such personnel at the level required for the enduring medical support of each such center. describes the establishment of each center of excellence established under subsection (a), to include the location, capability, and capacity of each such center; describes the referral policy published by the Defense Health Agency under subsection (c); identifies the medical personnel billets identified under subsection (d); and provides a plan for the staffing of personnel at such centers to ensure the enduring medical support of each such center. In this section, the term ‘military medical center’ means a medical center described in section 1073d(b) of title 10 , United States Code.” post-traumatic stress; traumatic brain injury; and such other conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate.” In carrying out section 1073d of title 10 , United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of Defense may not restructure or realign the infrastructure of, or modify the health care services provided by, a military medical treatment facility unless the Secretary determines that, if such a restructure, realignment, or modification will eliminate the ability of a covered beneficiary to access health care services at a military medical treatment facility, the covered beneficiary will be able to access such health care services through the purchased care component of the TRICARE program.”