History

The Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service (COA) traces its origins to the 1920’s when small groups of officers met informally to discuss issues of importance to the Commissioned Corps and public health. The Association was formally incorporated in October 1951 by John M. McInerney, George F. Archambault, and Thomas A. Foster on behalf of the first Board of Directors.

There have been a number of issues confronting the Commissioned Officers Association over the last 50 years. These issues and challenges shaped COA’s advocacy strategies and organizational structure.

The first challenge to COA was the establishment of the organization and the membership. After chartering of the Association and the drafting of a constitution and bylaws, the early issues confronting COA were the proposals to close the PHS hospitals and outpatient clinics and the movement to eliminate the PHS Commissioned Corps.

COA was instrumental in defeating a measure in the mid 60's to close PHS hospitals and continued working to keep the hospitals and clinics open. However, the Administration persisted in trying to close the hospitals. COA established numerous contacts with members of Congress and appropriate Congressional Committees to enlist their support. These efforts were successful for many years and were almost exclusively the result of COA’s work. However, the hospitals finally closed during the Reagan Administration.

In the 1970's, a strong movement got underway to abolish the PHS Commissioned Corps. COA recognized the need to strenuously fight these efforts and secured the services of legislative/lobbying consultants and enlisted the support of numerous members of Congress, the Secretary of HEW, and the Surgeon General to thwart these attempts. Many of the COA efforts were successful, but the Corps detractors, in particular the Office of Management and Budget, continued their efforts to abolish the Corps. COA built a strong coalition of supporters on Capitol Hill and among professional organizations to ward off efforts to abolish the Commissioned Corps.

COA’s legislative efforts were not just defensive in nature but were proactive in assuring that the PHS Commissioned Corps physicians were included in any special pays given to physicians in the Armed Service and in assisting Senator Magnuson in securing passage of the National Health Service Corps legislation. In addition, COA combined its resources with the Military Coalition, the Reserve Officers Association, the Retired Officers Association, the Association for Military Surgeons of the United States, and others to advance issues of parity with the other uniformed services.

As a result of these initial legislative battles, COA recognized the importance of having an organizational structure that promoted effective communication between the membership and the COA administrative offices so that, when important issues were identified, the membership could be marshaled to “educate” Congress on Corps issues. In addition, an appreciation was gained for the value of legislative consultants and support from outside groups.

It was during the period of the 1960's and 1970's that the COA Branch and House of Delegates structure evolved and the annual meeting blossomed from a joint meeting with the Clinical Society to an independent COA conference beginning in 1965. The evolution of these organizational structures facilitated COA’s ability to address political moves that were detrimental to the Corps.

In 1972 the format of Annual Meeting was changed to include separate luncheons and meetings for various disciplines. The House of Delegates meeting was held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting and improvements were made in the meeting agenda such as securing outstanding/renowned speakers and improved social programs.

COA continually attempted to improve the House of Delegates and Branch relations and established a COA Board/Branch liaison. Each Board member was assigned one or more Branches acting as a liaison representative.

The House of Delegates served as the central forum for discussion and approval of resolutions. The resolution process was initiated in 1973 and modified in 1992. When the COA Branches submitted issues for consideration, the issue would go to one of five Board and House of Delegates Workgroups (COA Affairs, Officer Benefits, Officer Evaluation & Career Development, Protocol & Ceremony, and Public Health Concerns). Those issues deemed to have merit were forwarded to the House of Delegates Resolutions Committee Workgroups. Issues approved by the House of Delegates were forwarded as resolutions to the Board of Directors for approval.

The COA Branch and House of Delegates structure included the National Officers positions of Recorder, President-Elect and President. The Recorder became the President-Elect and then the President in succeeding years. The COA Board of Directors was composed of two elected officers from each of the 11 categories plus two each representing the retired officers and officers outside the DC area. The officers of the Board were elected by the Board and comprised the Treasurer, Chair-Elect and Chairperson.

The Branch/Board/House of Delegates structure gave the membership a sense of empowerment but was duplicative and cumbersome.

In 1998, the Board of Directors had concern about COA’s financial viability. COA expenses for the annual meeting, executive office and general operating expenses could not be covered by the diminishing sums from the once profitable insurance program and membership dues. The annual shortfall was eroding COA’s cash/investment reserves. COA convened the Financial Recovery Task Force to address the financial crisis. The Financial Recovery task Force concluded that the overall COA structure and governance needed to be streamlined in order to reduce costs and increase revenues. It was decided that COA needed to establish a Governance Task Force.

The Governance Task Force developed a proposal for a new governing structure consisting of a single governing body (the Board of Directors) composed of 18 officers led by the Chairperson, Chair-Elect and Treasurer. The Board membership makeup is an active duty officer for each of the 11 categories, three active duty officers outside the DC area, three retired officers and one inactive reserve officer. The Board members are elected by a simple majority of the COA membership. The Chairperson of the Board is also the chair of the Executive Committee. The House of Delegates was dissolved but the membership has a forum for discussion at the Meeting of the Assembly during the annual meeting.

A new constitution, bylaws and articles of incorporation were drawn up and the new governance and organizational structure provides for a 501(c)(3) tax exempt affiliate (The PHS Commissioned Officers Foundation for the Advancement of Public Health) to promote charitable and educational activities.

There were concerns on the part of COA Branches that the Governance Task Force proposal would result in diluting the role of COA Branches and disenfranchising the membership. After lengthy discussion, the proposed governance changes were approved in 2000 at the House of Delegates during the 35th Annual COA Meeting and affirmed by a membership vote later that year.

The current governance structure is simpler than the previous one and includes options for COA to expand into new service and resource generating areas. The present governance is founded upon a “one officer-one vote” philosophy but still values and supports the role and contributions of the COA Branches.

In 2002, the Association undertook a strategic planning effort resulting in a comprehensive strategic planning document approved by the membership at the 2003 annual meeting. This five-year plan continues to guide the Association’s activities and has resulted in a dramatic increase in the Association’s membership and financial stability.

Issues of concern regarding the future of the PHS Commissioned Corps have continued to be a primary focus of the Association. Working in close coordination with The Military Coalition, COA led the effort to defeat an Administration proposal in 2002 to classify Corps officers as civil servants for compensation purposes. The Association has since been a leading proponent for a major “transformation” of the Corps to better position it to meet new public health challenges of the 21st century.