U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) commended the inclusion of his bipartisan bill, the United States Public Health Service Modernization Act of 2019, into the newly enacted COVID-19 relief package signed into law on March 27.
Sen. Rounds sponsored S. 2629 in October 2019 with two Democrats to establish a Ready Reserve Corps within the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to adequately staff healthcare jobs during public health and national emergencies, according to the text of the bill.
“The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need to create a Ready Reserve Corps within the USPHS so vital healthcare services remain available to our citizens when Commissioned Corps Officers are called away from their duty stations,” Sen. Rounds said. “Already, hundreds of officers have been deployed from their regular duty stations, such as an Indian Health Service facility, to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is leaving a gap in healthcare services in already underserved communities.”
According to information provided by Sen. Rounds’ office, the USPHS Commissioned Corps is a team of more than 6,500 full-time officers advancing public health and disease prevention programs who fill health service roles within federal agencies.
When relocated from these agencies to help with public health emergencies, healthcare jobs at these agencies then become vacant, posing a risk to citizens in need, according to the information.
“By creating a Ready Reserve Corps within USPHS, we will now be better equipped to fill these vital positions when the Commissioned Corps officers need to respond to a national emergency,” said Sen. Rounds.