Eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610

Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, April 25, 1966, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 203, as amended [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

Section 1. Transfer of Functions

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, there are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) all functions of the Public Health Service, of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, and of all other officers and employees of the Public Health Service, and all functions of all agencies of or in the Public Health Service.

(b) This section shall not apply to the functions vested by law in any advisory council, board, or committee of or in the Public Health Service which is established by law or is required by law to be established.

Sec. 2. Performance of Transferred Functions

The Secretary may from time to time make such provisions as he shall deem appropriate authorizing the performance of any of the functions transferred to him by the provisions of this reorganization plan by any officer, employee, or agency of the Public Health Service or of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Sec. 3. Abolitions

(a) The following agencies of the Public Health Service are hereby abolished:

(1) The Bureau of Medical Services, including the office of Chief of the Bureau of Medical Services.

(2) The Bureau of State Services, including the office of Chief of the Bureau of State Services.

(3) The agency designated as the National Institutes of Health (42 U.S.C. 203), including the office of Director of the National Institutes of Health (42 U.S.C. 206(b)) but excluding the several research Institutes in the agency designated as the National Institutes of Health.

(4) The agency designated as the Office of the Surgeon General (42 U.S.C. 203(1)), together with the office held by the Deputy Surgeon General (42 U.S.C. 206(a)).

(b) The Secretary shall make such provisions as he shall deem necessary respecting the winding up of any outstanding affairs of the agencies abolished by the provisions of this section.

Sec. 4. Incidental Transfers

As he may deem necessary in order to carry out the provisions of this reorganization plan, the Secretary may from time to time effect transfers within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare of any of the records, property, personnel and unexpended balances (available or to be made available) of appropriations, allocations, and other funds of the Department which relate to functions affected by this reorganization plan.

[The Secretary and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare were redesignated the Secretary and Department of Health and Human Services, respectively, by 20 U.S.C. 3508.]

Message of the President

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, and providing for reorganization of health functions of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

I

Today we face new challenges and unparalleled opportunities in the field of health. Building on the progress of the past several years, we have truly begun to match the achievements our medicine to the needs of our people.

The task ahead is immense. As a nation, we will unceasingly pursue our research and learning, our training and building, our testing and treatment. But now our concern must also turn to the organization of our Federal health programs.

As citizens we are entitled to the very best health services our resources can provide.

As taxpayers, we demand the most efficient and economic health organizations that can be devised.

I ask Congress to approve a reorganization plan to bring new strength to the administration of Federal health programs.

I propose a series of changes in the organization of the Public Health Service that will bring to all Americans a structure modern in design, more efficient in operation and better prepared to meet the great and growing needs of the future. Through such improvements we can achieve the full promise of the landmark health legislation enacted by the 89th Congress.

I do not propose these changes lightly. They follow a period of careful deliberation. For many months the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Surgeon General have consulted leading experts in the Nation—physicians, administrators, scientists, and public health specialists. They have confirmed my belief that modernization and reorganization of the Public Health Service are urgently required and long overdue.

II

The Public Health Service is an operating agency of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. It is the principal arm of the Federal Government in the field of health. Its programs are among those most vital to our well-being.

Since 1953 more than 50 new programs have been placed in the Public Health Service. Its budget over the past 12 years has increased tenfold—from $250 million to $2.4 billion.

Today the organization of the Public Health Service is clearly obsolete. The requirement that new and expanding programs be administered through an organizational structure established by law more than two decades ago stands as a major obstacle to the fulfillment of our Nation’s health goals.

As presently constituted, the Public Health Service is composed of four major components:

National Institutes of Health.

Bureau of State Services.

Bureau of Medical Services.

Office of the Surgeon General.

Under present law, Public Health Service functions must be assigned only to these four components.

This structure was designed to provide separate administrative arrangements for health research, programs of State and local aid, health services, and executive staff resources. At a time when these functions could be neatly compartmentalized, the structure was adequate. But today the situation is different.

Under recent legislation many new programs provide for an integrated attack on specific disease problems or health hazards in the environment by combining health services, State and local aid, and research. Each new program of this type necessarily is assigned to one of the three operating components of the Public Health Service. Yet none of these components is intended to administer programs involving such a variety of approaches.

Our health problems are difficult enough without having them complicated by outmoded organizational arrangements.

But if we merely take the step of integrating the four agencies within the Public Health Service we will not go far enough. More is required.