Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
The United States Department of the Navy agency responsible for managing health care, medical readiness, research, and medical personnel for the Navy and Marine Corps.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, commonly abbreviated BUMED, is the health-care and medical-management agency of the United States Department of the Navy. It oversees Navy Medicine activities serving the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, including clinical care, operational medical support, public health, medical education, biomedical research, logistics, information systems, and the administration of military and civilian medical personnel. BUMED is not a commercial brand or a conventional health-care company. It is a federal military organization whose responsibilities extend across the Navy and Marine Corps force. Its beneficiary population includes active-duty personnel, reservists, retirees, veterans where eligible, military families, and other authorized users of the military health system. The organization manages or supports hospitals, clinics, laboratories, training commands, research units, dental formations, public-health organizations, medical logistics activities, and medical treatment facilities associated with hospital ships. Reference material describes a force of approximately 41,930 medical personnel and more than one million eligible beneficiaries, although those figures are time-sensitive and should not be treated as a current official count without a dated source. The bureau's role combines health-care delivery with military readiness. Its facilities provide routine and specialized clinical services, emergency and expeditionary medicine, dental care, preventive medicine, occupational health, force-health protection, and support for deployed naval and Marine Corps units. BUMED also trains and manages the Navy's medical staff corps, including the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Nurse Corps, Medical Service Corps, and Hospital Corps, while coordinating with civilian employees and other federal health organizations. BUMED was one of five Navy bureaus created in 1842 when the bureau system replaced the Board of Navy Commissioners. It is one of the two original bureaus that continue to exist. During the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, its institutional footprint changed as the Navy reorganized shore medical commands, consolidated or realigned facilities, expanded joint military medicine, and moved major headquarters functions into the Defense Health Headquarters complex in Northern Virginia. The bureau was headquartered at the Old Naval Observatory from 1942 until 2012. Its modern structure includes major regional and support organizations such as Naval Medical Forces Atlantic, Naval Medical Forces Pacific, and Naval Medical Forces Support Command. It also encompasses or supports major facilities including Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Naval Medical Center San Diego, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, research commands, professional-development and training organizations, public-health units, and medical logistics activities. BUMED medical personnel staff the treatment facilities aboard USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, while the ships themselves are operated by civilian mariners under Military Sealift Command. The Surgeon General of the United States Navy serves as BUMED's commanding officer. The bureau is organized into functional departments covering corps leadership, total-force management, education and training, business operations, fleet support and logistics, information management and technology, resource management, capability requirements, operations and readiness, research and development, health-care operations, and patient safety and clinical quality. Through this structure, BUMED acts both as a health-care network administrator and as a force-generation organization responsible for keeping Navy and Marine Corps personnel medically ready for missions worldwide.
History
BUMED was established in 1842 as one of the five bureaus created to replace the Navy's Board of Navy Commissioners. The bureau was established as part of a broader effort to give the Navy permanent administrative offices with responsibility for specialized functions. Medicine and surgery became a distinct bureau-level responsibility, allowing the Navy to organize medical personnel, facilities, supplies, and standards on a continuing institutional basis. BUMED is one of only two of the original 1842 Navy bureaus that remain in existence. Over time, its responsibilities expanded beyond the management of physicians and surgical care. Navy Medicine developed a broad system of hospitals, clinics, laboratories, dental organizations, public-health units, training commands, and research institutions. The organization also became responsible for medical support to the Marine Corps and for providing health services to eligible military beneficiaries and families. From 1942 through 2012, BUMED was headquartered at the Old Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. The bureau's facilities and subordinate organizations evolved as naval operations, military medicine, and federal health-care policy changed. Its responsibilities include both fixed-facility treatment and operational medicine, requiring support for ships, expeditionary units, overseas bases, training establishments, and deployed forces. A major organizational change occurred in 2005, when Navy Medicine aligned many shore facilities into four broad commands: Navy Medicine East, Navy Medicine West, Navy Medicine National Capital Area, and Navy Medicine Support Command. The arrangement was intended to provide clearer regional management and support for Navy and Marine Corps medical activities. The realignment occurred in the wider context of U.S. military-base restructuring and the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process. The National Capital Area also underwent significant change. In 2011, the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was merged with Walter Reed Army Medical Center to create Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The joint facility became part of the Joint Task Force National Capital Region/Medical structure. In 2013, Navy Medicine National Capital Area was disestablished, and its remaining facilities were transferred primarily to Navy Medicine East. In 2006, the Defense Business Board recommended combining the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical commands into one joint medical command, citing potential savings in personnel and administration. That proposal was not implemented as a full merger. Instead, the Defense Health Agency was established separately in 2012, while the military services retained their own medical commands and service-specific readiness responsibilities. The military medical commands and the Defense Health Agency subsequently shared the Defense Health Headquarters complex in Northern Virginia, reflecting increased coordination without eliminating the service organizations. In 2012, Navy Medicine Support Command was renamed and reorganized as the Navy Medicine Education and Training Command. Units that did not belong to the training mission became independent under BUMED or were placed in other Navy Medicine structures. This change illustrates the bureau's continuing adjustment between centralized administration, regional facility management, professional education, and operational support. Today, BUMED functions through a network of regional forces, support commands, hospitals, clinics, research laboratories, logistics organizations, training institutions, and public-health activities. Naval Medical Forces Atlantic and Naval Medical Forces Pacific provide major regional structures, while Naval Medical Forces Support Command supports training, professional development, and national-level medical activities. Research and specialized organizations address biomedical science, submarine medicine, aerospace and operational health, public health, drug screening, ophthalmic support, and medical logistics. The Surgeon General of the United States Navy commands BUMED. Its internal organization includes leadership for the Navy's medical staff corps and functional departments responsible for manpower, education, business operations, logistics, information technology, financial management, capabilities, readiness, research, clinical operations, patient safety, and quality. The bureau's medical personnel also support treatment facilities aboard USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort. The ships are operated by Military Sealift Command civilian mariners, while their medical treatment facilities are staffed by Navy Medicine personnel. BUMED's history therefore reflects the development of American naval medicine from a nineteenth-century administrative bureau into a global military health system. Its enduring mission is to protect the health of Navy and Marine Corps personnel, maintain medical readiness, deliver care to authorized beneficiaries, and sustain the medical capabilities required for naval operations.
- 2013
Navy Medicine National Capital Area disestablished
[1]The National Capital Area command was disestablished and its remaining facilities were transferred mainly to Navy Medicine East.
- 2012
Training command realignment
[1]Navy Medicine Support Command was renamed and reorganized as Navy Medicine Education and Training Command, with non-training elements separately realigned.
- 2012
Defense Health Agency established
[1]The Defense Health Agency was established separately from the military medical commands, increasing joint coordination while preserving BUMED's service-specific role.
- 2011
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center created
[1]The National Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center were merged to form the joint Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
- 2005
Shore medical facilities reorganized
[1]Navy Medicine aligned shore facilities into Navy Medicine East, Navy Medicine West, Navy Medicine National Capital Area, and Navy Medicine Support Command.
- 1942
Headquarters moves to the Old Naval Observatory
[1]The bureau established its headquarters at the Old Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., where it remained until 2012.
- 1842
Bureau established
[1]BUMED was created as one of five Navy bureaus established to replace the Board of Navy Commissioners.
Products and positioning
United States naval military health-care and medical-readiness agency
Military health-care facilities
Naval hospitals and medical centers
BUMED operates or supports a worldwide network of naval hospitals and medical centers providing inpatient, outpatient, emergency, specialty, preventive, and readiness-related care. Major examples include Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Naval Medical Center San Diego, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. These facilities serve service members, eligible families, retirees, and other authorized beneficiaries while also supporting military training and operational requirements.
Military health-care facilities
Naval health clinics
Naval health clinics provide primary care, occupational health, preventive medicine, immunization, readiness processing, and other local services at bases and naval installations. They extend Navy Medicine beyond large hospitals and help maintain the day-to-day medical readiness of Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
Military medical support
Operational and expeditionary medicine
Operational medicine supports sailors and Marines aboard ships, at overseas installations, with expeditionary units, and during deployed missions. The capability includes preventive medicine, casualty care, force-health protection, medical planning, and readiness services designed for environments where conventional civilian health-care infrastructure may be unavailable.
Professional education
Medical education and training
BUMED manages and supports training for Navy medical personnel, including officers, enlisted Hospital Corps personnel, and other health-care professionals. Education and professional-development commands prepare personnel for clinical practice, operational assignments, leadership responsibilities, and specialized military medical environments.
Biomedical research
Naval medical research
Research organizations associated with Navy Medicine conduct biomedical, environmental, submarine, infectious-disease, occupational, and operational-health research. These activities support the health of service members and contribute to medical knowledge relevant to military environments and deployment conditions.
Maritime medical support
Hospital-ship medical treatment
BUMED medical personnel staff the medical treatment facilities aboard USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort. The vessels provide substantial afloat medical capacity for military operations, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, and other authorized missions, while ship operations are handled by civilian mariners employed by Military Sealift Command.
Brand decisions
2013
Disestablishment of Navy Medicine National Capital AreaStrategyBackground
The creation of a joint national military medical center and broader defense-health coordination reduced the need for a separate Navy Medicine National Capital Area command.
Action taken
The command was disestablished, and its remaining facilities were transferred primarily to Navy Medicine East.
Aftermath
The change simplified the regional command structure and aligned remaining facilities with the Atlantic regional organization.
2012
Education and training command realignmentStrategyBackground
BUMED reassessed the relationship between its training organizations and other support activities.
Action taken
Navy Medicine Support Command was renamed Navy Medicine Education and Training Command, while non-training units were separated and realigned under other Navy Medicine structures.
Aftermath
The change gave education and training a more distinct command identity while leaving BUMED responsible for broader medical administration and force support.
2011
Creation of Walter Reed National Military Medical CenterM&ABackground
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process called for changes to major military medical facilities in the Washington metropolitan area.
Action taken
The National Naval Medical Center was merged with Walter Reed Army Medical Center to create a joint national military medical center.
Aftermath
The resulting facility became part of the Joint Task Force National Capital Region/Medical structure and continued to serve as a major Navy and joint military medical institution.
2005
Regional shore-facility alignmentStrategyBackground
Navy Medicine sought a clearer structure for administering its shore-based hospitals, clinics, and support activities.
Action taken
Facilities were organized into four broad commands: Navy Medicine East, Navy Medicine West, Navy Medicine National Capital Area, and Navy Medicine Support Command.
Aftermath
The arrangement became the basis for subsequent regional and support-command realignments, including later changes to the National Capital Area and training structures.
Sources2 sources
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