Published as part of the Commissioned Corps Personnel Manual for Public Health Service Commis-sioned Corps officers. Forward news of Service-wide or special interest to Division of CommissionedPersonnel/HRS/PSC, Room 4A-15, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857-0001, Phone: 301-594-3462.

Director, DCP/HRS/PSCRADM R. Michael Davidson

Editor Mrs. Virginia Kapusnick

Commissioned CorpsBULLETIN

Commissioned CorpsBULLETIN

Division of Commissioned Personnel • Program Support Center, DHHS

Vol. XIII, No. 6 June 1999

Surgeon General's Column

“Our health always seems much morevaluable after we lose it.”

–unknown

I read an interesting front-page storyin the May 6, 1999, issue of the Wash-ington Post titled “For a Generation inDenial, a Fountain of Youth Products,”written by Caroline E. Mayer. It assertedthat people in this country, mostly thebaby-boomer crowd, those born between1946 and 1964, are bent on trying cos-metic quick-fixes and anti-aging productsto maintain a youthful appearance. Thearticle went on to say that while there isgenerally no scientific basis that suchproducts work, people are willing to paybig bucks for products that claim to wardoff any evidence of aging. One companythat tracks sales of anti-aging packagedgoods reported an increase to 69 productlines today, up from18 product lines in1993, according to Mayer.

That says a great deal about our de-sire to appear young. But when we ex-amine reliable, science-based methodsfor prolonging life, we know that cosmeticcover-ups are not the answer. Our besthope for enhancing our quality of healthylife is through the adoption of healthybehaviors.

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles

As you know, one of our evolving pri-orities is to move this Nation toward abalanced community health system. Animportant component of that system ispromoting healthy lifestyles, particularlyin the areas of physical activity, nutri-tion, avoidance of toxins, and responsiblesexual behavior.

We are confronted with many barrierswhen it comes to promoting healthy

lifestyles. One of them is convincingpeople of the inextricable link betweenhealth and behavior. In fact, human be-havior accounts for more than 50 percentof years of potential life lost. That in-cludes tobacco use, alcohol, drug abuse,diet, unprotected sex, substance abuse,violence, and physical inactivity.

Another barrier we face relates to thesense of defeat people feel when tryingto adopt a healthy lifestyle. Many peoplehave bought into the myths that it is justtoo hard to adopt healthy behaviors, andwe must counter those myths with posi-tive messages and real-life examples.

Myth #1 – You need to be an athlete tobenefit from physical activity.

We are talking about moderate physi-cal activity, such as walking, washing thecar, gardening, aerobic dancing, swim-ming, and hiking. If we can get seden-tary people of all ages up and moving forat least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week,we can reduce cardiovascular diseaseand deaths from cardiovascular diseaseby one-half in this country, and we canreduce the onset of Type II diabetes byone-third. In the elderly, we can reducehip fractures by 40 percent and signifi-cantly enhance their quality of life andoverall physical condition.

Myth #2 – Food cannot be good and benutritious.

Consistent with the 5-a-Day guide-lines, we are encouraging people to eatat least five servings of fruits and veg-etables each day, and to cut back on fatsand sugars. The American diet is too de-ficient in fruits, vegetables, grains, andcalcium and too replete with fats and

sugars, which often lead to overweight.Obesity in this country is at an all-timehigh, having reached epidemic levels inboth children and adults. More than 20percent of the children in this countryare significantly overweight and morethan 50 percent of adults are signifi-cantly overweight. Beyond that, over-weight and obesity are particularly com-mon among African-American, Hispanic,Native American, and Pacific Islanderwomen, putting them at risk for diabe-tes, cardiovascular disease, and certaintypes of cancer.

Myth #3 – It’s not worth it to avoid tox-ins, since you’ve got to die of somethinganyway.

In fact, tobacco-related illnesses arethe most preventable cause of death inthis country. Nearly 450,000 people ayear die of some smoking-related diseasein this country. Every day, 3,000 teenag-ers become new smokers, despite the factthat we have now had 28 Surgeon Gen-eral reports on tobacco. Of those 3,000young people who become smokers ev-ery day, one-half will be addicted beforethey are 18 years of age, and a third willdie of some smoking-related disease. It’sa very deadly habit.

IN THIS ISSUE . . .Update Your Contact Information

Via the Web ..............................2

PHS Personnel Aid KosovarRefugees at Fort Dix ..................3

1999 Annual COERSDistributed ................................. 5

(Continued on page 2)

Page 2 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Vol. XIII, No. 6 June 1999

In terms of alcohol, there is an inter-esting problem on our campuses today.Forty to fifty percent of college studentsbinge drink, meaning they will drinkmore than five drinks in one sitting aboutonce a week. They drink to get drunk,putting themselves at risk for increasedrisk of alcohol-related diseases, motorvehicle crashes, irresponsible sexual be-havior, and violence.

Myth #4 – Responsible sexual behaviorplaces limitations on a fulfilling sex life.

Sex can be wonderful when it is withinthe realm of a committed relationship.We encourage people to take sex seri-ously and to remain abstinent until theyare involved in a committed relationship.We are living in an age of 12 million casesof sexually transmitted diseases a yearin this country, almost one million teen-age pregnancies, and the very deadlyAIDS epidemic. In other words, sex isnothing to play around with, but sex canstill be wonderful!

Communities play a vital part in pro-moting healthy lifestyles by supportingphysical education and adult-supervisedsports and by providing safe environ-ments, free from violence and toxins, forchildren and their families to play andrecreate. Healthy communities fosterhealthy lifestyles.

Every day, physicians witness the on-set of chronic illnesses and life-threat-ening diseases that patients could havecontrolled or prevented had they chosento adopt healthy behaviors. If our systemis going to work, it’s going to call for phy-sicians to start talking to their patientsand asking them questions about theirlifestyles so that they can begin to havean impact on their behavior.

A fulfilling and healthy life cannot befound in cosmetic cover-ups – onlythrough healthy behaviors and lifestyleswill that happen. I have often said thatexcellence is a way of life and living as-sociated with high aims and lofty goals.We must make the choice to seek excel-lence and to make healthy lifestyles away of life.

ADM David SatcherAssistant Secretary for Health

and Surgeon General

Surgeon General's Column

(Continued from page 1)

Technology Trends: Update Your Contact InformationVia the Web

Many of you have regularly visited theDivision of Commissioned Personnel’s(DCP) web site (note new address – http://dcp.psc.gov) to receive information andmaterials provided by DCP for your use.Now we are implementing the reverse;asking you to provide us with informa-tion that will help us serve you better. Anew area has been added to the DCP website that will serve as a gateway to newon-line activities for active-duty officersand Commissioned Corps Liaisons now,and eventually supervisors, reservists,and retirees.

The first of the new generation of ac-tive-duty officer activities is a method forupdating your contact information. Webelieve that the best custodian for thisinformation is you. Whenever your ad-dress, telephone, fax, or email changes,you can login and update the DCP data-base. This is a major paradigm shift inthat you will be able to directly submitdata to the DCP data system. We are veryexcited about the possibilities created bythis new system. In the future, we willbe adding access to your active-duty in-dividual Official Personnel Folder, jobvacancy searches, applicant searches,event sign-up, award nomination sub-mission, and additional reporting toolsvia the same web gateway. Commis-sioned Corps Liaisons are also currentlyable to access on-line reports to assist intheir jobs.

To access these functions, once youhave entered the DCP web site, click onthe “Officer and Liaison Activity” link.This will take you to a secure area of theweb site that will require a LogonID andPassword for access. These LogonIDs andPasswords will be provided to active-dutyofficers on their form PHS-6155, “State-ment of Earnings and Deductions,” (pay-roll stub) that they will receive near theend of June (Note: This information willonly appear on the pay stubs of those ac-tive-duty officers who do not already haveaccounts for web reporting). So be sureto take a close look and to put the infor-mation in a safe place. The informationwill also be available on CorpsLine at301-443-6843 through July 1999. If youhave any problems with either yourLoginID or password, contact DCP’sInformation Services Branch’s (ISB)HELP DESK at 301-443-3078 andleave a message—please do not call the

Compensation Branch. An ISB staffmember will return your call and provideassistance.

You must, after your initial log-on tothe web site, change the password, hope-fully to something more meaningful toyou. The new password must be more thanfive characters in length and contain atleast one number and one letter.

Once you get your initial LogonID andPassword, please check out this new fea-ture of DCP’s web site and let us knowwhat you think about it. Use the emailaddress on the web site for comments.Please send feedback so we can work tobetter serve your needs. Our success ismeasured by how well we meet yourneeds. You will notice that the informa-tion you may edit is quite limited. We didthis purposefully. We are taking thissmall, but very important first step toinsure that our procedures work correctlyand securely before expanding to otherweb-based activities. For those withoutweb access, we will of course continue toprovide alternate means for getting thejob done. We hope you are pleased, butlet us know either way.

PHS Forms are Availableon the DCP Web Site

Many PHS forms routinely usedby officers are available on theDivision of CommissionedPersonnel’s web site – http://dcp.psc.gov

Some of the forms that are avail-able include:

• PHS-1662, “Request for Person-nel Action – Commissioned Of-ficer”;

• PHS-4772, “JRCOSTEP StatusReport”;

• PHS-7034, “Application for As-similation into the RegularCorps”; and

• a number of payroll-relatedforms.

Reminder

June 1999 Vol. XIII, No. 6 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Page 3

PHS Personnel Aid Kosovar Refugees at Fort Dix

Affiliation Agreement Signed Between PHS and Mercer University’s SouthernSchool of Pharmacy

A formal affiliation agreement wassigned recently between the PublicHealth Service (PHS) and MercerUniversity’s Southern School of Phar-macy. The agreement was signed bySouthern School of Pharmacy Dean H.W. Matthews, RADM Fred G. Paavola,Chief Pharmacist Officer, PHS, andRussell G. Warren, Mercer’s ExecutiveVice President and Provost. CAPT JimDowdy of the Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention (CDC) was instru-mental in developing this agreement,which facilitates the provision of phar-macy practice sites for students in theDoctor of Pharmacy Clerkship.

The pharmacy category of PHS hascontinued to increase the number of sitesavailable to pharmacy students to com-plete required rotations for graduation.Traditional sites included the FederalBureau of Prisons, Food and Drug Ad-

ministration, Indian Health Service, andNational Institutes of Health. CAPTDowdy, CAPT John Becher, and LCDRCindy Dougherty worked to develop syl-labi with key staff of CDC so that phar-macy students could gain experience inthe public health arena. With the addi-tion of the CDC sites, the PHS has morethan 220 sites available now for phar-macy student rotations.

CDR Kevin S. Yeskey, Office of EmergencyPreparedness, served as the initial officer-in-charge at the Fort Dix deployment.

The Commissioned Corps ReadinessForce (CCRF) web site states: “It wasannounced on Friday, April 30th, that theDepartment of Health and Human Serv-ices would have the responsibility forproviding health care support for the re-settlement of 20,000 Kosovar refugees inthe United States, and that the Office ofEmergency Preparedness (OEP) wastasked with providing personnel to re-ceive the first Kosovar refugees at FortDix, New Jersey. The first planeload wasexpected to arrive on Wednesday, May 5th."

OEP would deploy officers from theCCRF and members of the PHS-1 Disas-ter Medical Assistance Team (DMAT).The health care force would include phy-sicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists,medical records specialists, laboratorytechnologists, Emergency Medical Tech-nicians, and mental health specialists.CDR Kevin S. Yeskey, Chief Medical Of-ficer of OEP, was designated as the of-ficer-in-charge of the joint task force ini-tially named Operation Open Arms andlater changed to Provide Refuge. Offi-cers were selected and contacted over theweekend for deployment that could oc-

cur as early as Monday, May 3rd. Finalnotification for deployment occurred lateMonday morning. The CCRF officers andDMAT members began arriving at FortDix by that afternoon. At Fort Dix, thePublic Health Service (PHS), Army, andAir Force had combined their forces toselect buildings that could be used toprovide housing and health care services.Around-the-clock work began on updat-ing and completing the necessarychanges to those buildings before thearrival of the first plane on Wednesday,May 5th.

The building that had been identifiedfor use as the health care clinic was re-leased to PHS for occupancy on Tuesday,May 4th. This occurred in the late after-noon necessitating the team members towork past midnight unloading the sup-ply truck and setting up the rooms. Theusual tours of duty were long and ex-hausting, ranging from 12 to 16 hours,as everyone strove to meet the needs ofour guests. The overall goals of this mis-sion were made more difficult to achieveby the unfortunate tornado disaster inOklahoma City, Oklahoma. This disasterrequired the human resources of theManagement Support Unit to bestretched to cover both relief efforts. ByWednesday, May 5th, the clinic was ap-proximately 90 percent ready to receivethe guests. The first plane, carrying 453people, arrived from Macedonia via Romeat McGuire Air Force Base, adjacent toFort Dix, on the afternoon of Wednes-day, May 5th. Their arrival was markedby a greeting from the First Lady, HillaryClinton, and other dignitaries.

One of our guests was a young womanwho had stated that she was 7 monthspregnant in Macedonia, but on arrival at

McGuire Air Force Base, was found to be9 months pregnant and having contrac-tions. She was taken from the plane di-rectly to the local hospital where shedelivered a healthy baby boy the nextafternoon. The baby’s parents named himAmerikan in honor of their host country.

After the Immigration and Naturaliza-tion Service had initially cleared theguests, they were given a medical screen-ing. This consisted of a physical exami-nation, laboratory work, chest x-ray, andimmunizations. The clinic also providedacute health care to the guests as theneed arose. While all days were busy, oneday approximately 350 guests were seen,more than 1,000 immunizations wereadministered, and hundreds of bloodsamples were drawn.

Planes continued to arrive almost ev-ery other day with between 400 and 500people per plane. By May 15th, the village,as the dormitories were called, hadnearly reached its full capacity of 3,000.Plans were moving forward to createanother dormitory section to house 1,500additional guests.

The guests responded to the assistanceprovided with a warm outpouring ofthanks.

By May 14th, replacements were on theway to relieve the initial workers, andarrangements to make Fort McCoy, Wis-consin, the second site to receive refugeeshad been initiated.

CDR Cheryl Chapman and CDRCarole (Betty) Kuzmik are officers fromthe Division of Commissioned Personnel(DCP) who were deployed to Fort Dix toprovide health care to the Kosovar refu-gees. Upon their return to DCP on May17th they submitted the above.

Page 4 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Vol. XIII, No. 6 June 1999

DCP and Y2K UpdateIn this month’s update of Y2K issues

we would like to let you know about someof the actual preparations that are be-ing done to ensure the continuity of op-erations in the Division of CommissionedPersonnel (DCP). In order for a BusinessContinuity and Contingency Plan to besuccessful, the plan must be thoroughlytested to determine if it is capable of pro-viding the desired levels of service for thecore business processes. Although wehave plenty of time before the centurychanges to do rigorous review and test-ing of our business processes, and timeto identify and implement any additionaladjustments or resources that may be re-quired, we plan to complete all of ourtesting before July 1st.

We have to ask ourselves the follow-ing questions:

1. Is the plan complete?

2. Can it be implemented as outlined?

3. Do all the parties involved know whatto do, how to do it, when to do it, andwhy they are doing it?

4. Do all the minimum acceptable lev-els of service get met by executing theplan?

5. Are all the resources required by theplan available and in working condi-tion?

6. Is there an acceptable level of secu-rity provided to the data being gen-erated and stored outside the normalprocesses / systems?

7. Can the process / system be restoredto normal after the plan has been ex-ecuted?

Getting answers to these questions isthe primary focus of any testing activi-

ties being planned. Getting an accurateand desired answer (i.e., an uncondi-tional ‘YES’) for each question enablesus to provide an accurate and objectiveassessment of our ability to continue todo business at the change of the century.

The Review Team consists of DCPBranch Chiefs and Senior Systems Ana-lysts who are thoroughly familiar withour business operations. The team willbe conducting full simulation testing ofDCP’s critical processes and plans toensure that all the necessary elementshave been accurately addressed. In thisway we will be able to provide assurancethat regardless of events at the turn ofthe century we will be able to provide theservices that you have come to expect forthe officers of the Commissioned Corpsof the U.S. Public Health Service.

Reminders Regarding Annual LeaveThe summer vacation season is under-

way and officers are reminded and en-couraged to schedule their annual leavethrough the year so as to preclude anydisappointment or misunderstandingresulting from the loss of accrued leaveat the end of the year. The maximumannual leave that may be carried forwardfrom one leave year to the next is 60 days.The leave year is a calendar year; theperiod beginning January 1 and endingDecember 31.The 60-day limitation onthe amount of unused annual leave thatcan be carried forward from one year tothe next is imposed by statute. Therefore,no waiver is legally permissible. In otherwords, no one can grant an exception.

To request annual leave, an officermust use form PHS-1345, “Request andAuthority for Leave of Absence (Commis-sioned Officers).” This request must besubmitted to the officer’s leave–granting

authority. If approved, the leave–grant-ing authority will return the original andone copy of the form to the officer andforward one copy to the officer’s leavemaintenance clerk. Immediately uponreturn to duty from annual leave, theofficer must complete Section 4 of theoriginal copy of form PHS-1345, obtainthe leave-granting authority’s verifica-tion signature, and forward the form tothe leave maintenance clerk. The officershould maintain a copy of the completedform for his or her records.

Leave maintenance clerks are respon-sible for maintaining a leave folder foreach officer. The folder must contain theoriginal copies, completed and signed, ofform PHS-1345 and form PHS-31,“Officer’s Leave Record.” Form PHS-31is designed for use by the leave mainte-nance clerk for recording annual leaveearned and taken by the officer.

On September 30 of each year, theofficer’s leave maintenance clerk willcomplete and forward form PHS-3842,“Report of Commissioned Officer AnnualLeave,” to each officer for whom he or shemaintains a leave record. This form willshow the balance at the beginning of theleave year, the amount of annual leaveused through September 30, and theamount of annual leave that will be for-feited if not used by December 31.

Officers are also reminded that theyare required to keep their leave-grant-ing authority and leave maintenanceclerk informed of their whereabouts dur-ing any period of leave, including sickleave. In addition to providing this in-formation on form PHS-1345, supervi-sors must be furnished with the addressand phone number where you can bereached while you are on leave.

Call for Nominations for the 1999/2000 Dietitian of the Year AwardThe Dietitian/Nutritionist Profes-

sional Advisory Committee (D/N PAC) isnow accepting nominations for the Pub-lic Health Service (PHS) Dietitian of theYear Award.

To be eligible, the nominee must be aPHS dietitian/nutritionist (civil serviceor commissioned corps) who has beenemployed by the Federal government fora minimum of 3 years during his or hercurrent tour; Corps officers must be in

the dietetics category; and all nomineesmust be listed as Registered Dietitianswith the American Dietetic Association’sCommission on Dietetic Registration.The emphasis for nomination should beon sustained outstanding performance,a superior contribution to the field of di-etetics, and evidence of dedication to theprinciples of the PHS mission.

Nominations must be received by theChairperson, D/N PAC, by July 16, 1999.

For more information, please visit theD/N PAC web site at <http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/diet/dietpac.html> or contact:

CDR Diane PrinceChairperson, D/N PACFDA/Mail Stop HF-55600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-44Rockville, MD 20857-0001Phone: 301-443-9703Fax: 301-443-5262Email: dprince@oc.fda.gov

June 1999 Vol. XIII, No. 6 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Page 5

RADM Leonard A. Scheele,Served as Surgeon General—1948-1956

Access to the Division of Commis-sioned Personnel’s (DCP) Electronic Bul-letin Board (EBB) requires a computerterminal equipped with a modem. Thetelephone number to connect to EBB is301-594-2398. The line parameters foryour modem/terminal should be set at300-14400 baud; 8 bits; 1 stop bit; noparity. If you do not have access to therequired equipment, it is suggested thatyou contact your Operating Division/Pro-gram to inquire about obtaining the nec-essary equipment or information on howto obtain the material displayed on theEBB.

If you experience a problem regardingregistration or access to the EBB, pleasecontact:

Division of Commissioned Personnel/HRS/PSCATTN: EBB Project Officer/ODB5600 Fishers Lane, Room 4A-18Rockville, MD 20857-0001Phone: 301-594-3458 or

301-594-3360.

Method forAccessing DCP’sElectronicBulletin Board

Recent Deaths

The deaths of the following retired offic-ers were reported to the Division of Com-missioned Personnel:

Title/Name Date

NURSECAPTAINMargaret F. Carroll 04/03/99John R. Morrow 04/08/99

SCIENTISTCAPTAINPaul L. Rice 03/19/99

SANITARIANCAPTAINSamuel M. Rogers 05/05/99

Hispanic Officers AdvisoryCommittee - Call forNominations

The Hispanic Officers Advisory Com-mittee (HOAC) is accepting nominationsfor membership by all interested PublicHealth Service Commissioned Corps of-ficers and Department of Health andHuman Services civil service personnel.

If you are interested, request that ablank self-nomination form (which in-cludes a space for supervisory approvaland a space to request being consideredfor work on a subcommittee rather thanbeing a committee member) be faxed toyou by using the Faxback feature ofCorpsLine. You can reach CorpsLine at301-443-6843. Listen to the menu andchoose the second option, “To retrievedocuments through Faxback,” and re-quest document number 6537.

Complete the self-nomination formand include a typed, short (up to twoparagraphs) biographical sketch. Submitthe complete package either by mail orby fax by close of business July 17, 1999,to the address below:

Wewoka Indian Health Service ClinicATTN: CDR Susan DethmanP.O. Box 1475Wewoka, OK 74884Phone: 405-257-6281Fax: 405-257-2696

1999 Annual COERsThe 1999 Annual Commissioned Offic-

ers’ Effectiveness Report (COER) wasdistributed in mid May and was due fromthe officer to his or her immediate Su-pervisor/Rating Official no later thanJune 4, 1999. The following summary ofthe established deadlines is provided asa convenient reminder.

COERs are due:

• to the Reviewing Official by June 18,1999;

• to the COER Operating Division/Pro-gram Commissioned Corps Liaison byJuly 9, 1999; and

• to the Division of Commissioned Per-sonnel by July 23, 1999.

A memorandum signed by the Secre-tary concerning commissioned corps per-sonnel practices, requires that managersunderstand and fulfill their obligationsconcerning Corps performance manage-ment. Therefore, a well-documentedCOER must be completed for each com-missioned officer, and the Secretary isholding each Operating Division Headresponsible for full compliance.

The Surgeon General’s Column in theApril issue of the Commissioned CorpsBulletin contained the following quote:“The world cannot be allowed to exist halfhealthy and half sick.” –Leonard Scheele.We regret that we did not more appro-priately identify RADM Leonard A.Scheele, who served as Surgeon Generalof the Public Health Service (PHS) from1948 to 1956 under Presidents Trumanand Eisenhower.

During RADM Scheele’s tenure as Sur-geon General, there was a dramatic ex-pansion of medical research in the PHSthrough the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH). NIH added six new insti-tutes plus the Clinical Center during thistime, and the budget almost tripled inthe years that he served. He also playeda significant role in certifying and mak-ing the Salk polio vaccine available, andin managing the crisis caused by a con-taminated batch of vaccine in the earlystages of the trial. The Armed ForcesMedical Library was transformed intothe National Library of Medicine andmade a part of PHS under RADMScheele.

RADM Scheele contributed a lifetimeof work to PHS and, as its Surgeon Gen-eral, served with great distinction. Hedied in 1993.

RADM Leonard A. Scheele

Page 6 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Vol. XIII, No. 6 June 1999

Vacancy AnnouncementsThe following vacancies are provided as representative of varied opportunities cur-

rently available to Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers. If you havequestions pertaining to the announcements listed below, please call the contact listed.

Additional vacancy announcements suitable for commissioned officers can be re-viewed by accessing the Division of Commissioned Personnel’s (DCP) Electronic Bul-letin Board (EBB). The EBB contains a listing of vacancies currently tracked by DCP’sVacancy Announcement and Tracking System (VAATS). Information regarding accessand use of EBB is provided elsewhere in this Commissioned Corps Bulletin.

Any Operating Division/Program (OPDIV) wishing to list a vacancy in this columnshould send a written request to: Division of Commissioned Personnel/HRS/PSC, ATTN:VAATS Project Officer/ODB, Room 4A-18, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857-0001. The VAATS Project Officer can also be reached at: Phone: 301-594-3458 (or 301-594-3360) or Fax: 301-443-7069.

Category/OPDIV Description of Position

MEDICALBUREAU OF PRISONS– Medical Officer (Psychiatrist)Rochester, MN Contact: CAPT Emmett Noll 202-307-2867, ext. 135

Grades: O-4/O-5/O-6 VAATS ID: HBE-93-0323Provides psychiatric evaluation, treatment, and pro-grams to all ages of adult Federal inmates referred toor housed at the Federal Medical Center in an inpa-tient and / or outpatient setting. Incumbent also servesin an advisory or consultive capacity to other health careprofessionals in performing evaluations, administeringcare, or making recommendations for care.

BUREAU OF PRISONS– Medical OfficerRochester, MN Contact: CAPT Emmett Noll 202-307-2867, ext. 135

Grades: O-4/O-5/O-6 VAATS ID: HBE-93-0322Provides comprehensive clinical care (educative, preven-tive, curative, and rehabilitative) to all ages of adult Fed-eral inmates referred to or housed at the Federal MedicalCenter in an inpatient and / or outpatient setting. Specificduties may involve all aspects of health care delivery, andthe incumbent must work in concert with both the Fed-eral Medical Center staff and consultant specialists.

AGENCY FOR TOXICSUBSTANCES ANDDISEASE REGISTRY– Director, Technology Assessment ProgramRockville, MD Contact: Mr. Jeffrey P. Toven 301-594-2408

Grade: O-6 VAATS ID: HT-93-0017Incumbent is fully responsible for providing executiveleadership and management to plan, organize, direct,and evaluate technology assessment activities on be-half of the Center and Agency as well as serving as atechnical authority and principal liaison to the HealthCare Financing Administration on technology assess-ment issues and activities.

HEALTH RESOURCESAND SERVICESADMINISTRATION– Clinical DirectorMiami, FL Contact: CDR Gilbert Rose 301-443-5460

Grade: O-6 VAATS ID: HBC-93-0130Provides direct clinical services to Immigration and Natu-ralization Service (INS) detainees at an INS ProcessingCenter. Experience in a primary care setting is required.Spanish language proficiency is desirable, but not required.

(Continued on page 7)

Retirements - MayTitle/Name OPDIV/Program

MEDICALCAPTAINDorothy K. MacFarlane OSDavid Pickar NIHPeter W. Wilson NIH

DENTALCAPTAINSarah E. Valway CDCCOMMANDERChristopher D. Tomlins IHS

NURSECAPTAINDixie A. Deeter OSMarilyn J. Vranas HRSA

ENGINEERCAPTAINKenneth R. Woodard EPA

SCIENTISTCAPTAINJerry M. Johnson CDC

PHARMACYCAPTAINDennis R. Gillham BOP

HEALTH SERVICESCOMMANDERGeorge E. Foley III IHS

Subscribe to Listserv toReceive Email Messagesfrom DCP

Officers are encouraged to sub-scribe to Listserv to receive periodicmessages from the Division of Com-missioned Personnel (DCP). Pleasesign up for the mail list by sendingan email message tolistserv@list.psc.dhhs.gov withthe message: Subscribe DCP “yourfull name”.

Where “your full name” is in theexample above, replace it with yourfirst and last name without thequotation marks – Example:

Subscribe DCP John Smith

Officers who have already sub-scribed to Listserv are encouragedto forward announcements they re-ceive to their colleagues.

June 1999 Vol. XIII, No. 6 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Page 7

Vacancy Announcements(Continued from page 6)

Category/OPDIV Description of Position

DENTALBUREAU OF PRISONS– Staff DentistVarious Sites Contact: CAPT Rodney Kirk 202-307-2867, ext. 138

Grades: O-3/O-4/O-5 VAATS ID: HBE-93-0314Staff dental officer positions are available in Lewisburg,PA; Milan, MI; McKean, PA; Sheridan, OR; Duluth, MN;Talladega, AL; New York, NY; Allenwood, PA; Fort Dix,NJ; and Oakdale, LA.

NURSEBUREAU OF PRISONS– Mid-Level PractitionerHouston, TX Contact: Ms. Janice A. Osten 202-307-2867, ext. 137

Grades: O-3/O-4 VAATS ID: HBE-93-0324A new Federal Detention Center in Houston, Texas, willbe accepting inmates by September 1999. Two RN posi-tions have been advertised. They are also seeking NursePractitioners and Physician Assistants.

PHARMACYBUREAU OF PRISONS– Chief PharmacistVarious Sites Contact: CAPT John Babb 202-307-2867, ext. 128

Grades: O-4/O-5/O-6 VAATS ID: HBE-93-0320Locations include Talladega, AL; Allenwood, PA; Chi-cago, IL; Lompoc, CA; Miami, FL; and Seymour JohnsonAFB, NC.

MULTIDISCIPLINARYHEALTH CARE FINANCINGADMINISTRATION– Medical Coding Specialist/Health Insurance SpecialistWoodlawn (Baltimore), MD Contact: Ms. Glynis Johnson 410-786-5630

Grade: O-5 VAATS ID: F-93-0013Serves as an expert on Current Procedural Terminol-ogy (CPT) coding interpretation and usage; providesauthoritative advice / assistance regarding the applica-tion of CPT codes in program operations; provides au-thoritative medical coding assistance related to physi-cian and nonphysician services to the central office, otherHCFA components, regional office staff, Medicare fiscalintermediaries, professional organizations, health careproviders, etc. Desirable credentials are RegisteredRecords Administrator (RRA) or Accreditied RecordsTechnical (ART). Will consider experience in Internal Clas-sification of Diseases, 9th edition (ICD-9-CM) coding.

PROGRAM SUPPORTCENTER– Deputy Director, Division of Commissioned Personnel (DCP)Rockville, MD Contact: Director, DCP 301-594-3000

Grade: O-6See the April 1999 issue of the Commissioned CorpsBulletin (page 7) for a detailed article describing dutiesand responsibilities.

TRICARE Active-DutyFamily Member Dental PlanRates Increase

Effective August 1, 1999, the premiumrates for the Family Member Dental Plan(FMDP) will increase. Officers will seethe change in rates in the July 1999 pay-roll since the premium is collected inadvance.

The new rates are (sponsor share):Single Enrollment - $8.53Family Enrollment - $21.33

(previous rates were single: $8.09; fam-ily: $20).

This is a routine scheduled increase asoutlined in the 5-year term of the FMDPcontract to cover premium costs. Up un-til this past year, legislation capped thesponsor’s share of the FMDP premiumat $20. Historically, and in accordancewith 32 CFR 199.13, the premium costshare has been set at a rate of 60 per-cent government and 40 percent sponsor.During the contract’s third option period,this 60/40 split would have put thesponsor’s share of a family premium overthe $20 ceiling. As such, TRICARE Man-agement Activity decided to increase thegovernment’s share of the family pre-mium to account for the amount over thesponsor ceiling throughout the contract’sthird option period (August 1, 1998 toJuly 31, 1999). In the meantime, the Con-gress passed legislation to allow thesponsor ceiling to rise and the fourthoption period rate, once again, reflectsthe 60/40 split. This accounts for thelarger-than-expected increase, from $20to $21.33.

NEW ADDRESS!!PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DCP

WEB SITE ADDRESS--

http://dcp.psc.gov

DCP Toll-Free Phone Number –1-877-INFO DCP

(or 1-877-463-6327)

Page 8 Commissioned Corps Bulletin Vol. XIII, No. 6 June 1999

APAOC Call for Nominations for the SecondSamuel Lin Award and First Junior Officer Award

The Asian Pacific American OfficersCommittee (APAOC) is pleased to an-nounce the call for nominations for thesecond Samuel Lin Award, and the firstJunior Officer Award. These awards havebeen developed to promote the futureleadership of Asian Pacific Americans inthe Public Health Service by honoringmembers of the commissioned corps orequivalent civil service professionals whohave made significant contributions tothe advancement of the Nation’s health.The Samuel Lin Award, first given lastyear, went to Dr. Dennis Koo from theCenters for Disease Control and Preven-tion. The Junior Officer Award will begiven out for the first time this year, andis for officers grade O-4 or below or civilservice equivalent.

Nominations must include:

1. Nomination cover sheet. It shouldinclude the following information:

Name and RankPosition TitleWork AddressWork PhoneProposed CitationNominated by

–Work phone–Relationship to

2. Narrative, not to exceed two pages(font size 10 or 12), that describesthe following:

a. The nominee’s contribution tothe advancement of the

Nation’s public health. Nomi-nation should address the im-pact of the work and the role ofthe nominee;

b. The leadership of the nomineein the work being cited (e.g.,providing vision or direction;developing an innovative ap-proach; initiating significantactivities; pursuing ongoingprofessional development;mentoring; etc.); and

c. Involvement of the nominee inhealth-related professional orcommunity organizations oractivities.

3. Current curriculum vitae.

Nominations may come from a super-visor, professional colleague, or anyonewho through a professional working re-lationship can attest to the impact of thenominee’s contribution to the advance-ment of public health. Self-nominationswill not be accepted. Nominations will beaccepted through August 1, 1999.

Please send eight copies of the aboveitems to:

LCDR Steven S. YoonCDC/NCEHMS F474770 Buford HighwayAtlanta, GA 30341Phone: 770-488-7084Fax: 770-488-7454Email: say7@cdc.gov

DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Program Support CenterHuman Resources ServiceDivision of Commissioned Personnel, Room 4A-15Rockville MD 20857-0001

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300

BULK RATEPOSTAGE AND FEES PAID

PSCPERMIT NO. G-280

99-738

REDISTRIBUTIONUSING PERMIT IMPRINT

IS ILLEGAL

DATED MATERIAL

Scientist PAC Seeks NewMembers

The Scientist Professional AdvisoryCommittee (SciPAC) is seeking scientistswho are interested in serving on thiscommittee. Self-nominations are encour-aged from both commissioned corps andcivil service scientists.

The SciPAC provides advice and con-sultation to the Office of the SurgeonGeneral and to the Scientist Chief Pro-fessional Officer (CPO) on professionaland personnel issues. A list of nomineeswill be prepared by the SciPAC and for-warded by the CPO to the Operating Di-visions/Programs for their concurrence.The SciPAC and CPO will select candi-dates from the list, and the Surgeon Gen-eral will appoint the new SciPAC mem-bers. The term of appointment is for 3years.

Scientists who are interested in serv-ing on the SciPAC are encouraged to sub-mit a curriculum vita with a cover letterthat describes their interest before July30, 1999.You may submit the requestedinformation by email, fax, or traditionalmail, as indicated below:

LCDR Richard P. TroianoSciPAC Executive SecretaryNational Cancer Institute, DCCPS, ARBEPN 313/NIH6130 Executive Blvd., MSC 7344Bethesda, MD 20892-7344Email: rt75i@nih.gov

(or)rick_troiano@nih.gov

Fax: 301-435-3710