Members of Congress are seeking to more closely monitor the Defense Department\u2019s plans to modify or downsize military hospitals and clinics by requiring more oversight and adding years to a ban on reducing the services\u2019 number of medical personnel.<\/p>\n
The proposed fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act<\/a> released this week calls for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and service surgeons general to review any proposed changes to military treatment facilities to determine whether they would affect military readiness.<\/p>\n Under the legislation, the Defense Health Agency director also will have to explain how service members, families, retirees and other beneficiaries would receive medical care if changes to military facilities affect their access to medical care.<\/p>\n In a statement accompanying the bill, House and Senate negotiators said they were concerned about the effects that downsizing facilities or personnel could have on operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect that any proposed restructuring, realignment, or modification to military medical treatment facilities will be conducted in collaboration with the appropriate Department of Defense stakeholders \u2026 to ensure that operational readiness is not impacted by any proposed changes,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n The provisions follow a flurry of questions from Congress this year over the Defense Department\u2019s plans to reorganize the military health system, to include downsizing or modifying some military treatment facilities.<\/p>\n When the Defense Health Agency was created, it was given responsibility for managing the military services\u2019 hospitals and clinics as well as the authority to reconfigure staffing and consolidate facilities.<\/p>\n The agency originally planned to realign 50 facilities, including 38 that would serve military personnel only<\/a>, while the services aimed to cut roughly 12,800 military health billets. Under the plan, an estimated 200,000 active-duty family members and retirees were to be shifted to nonmilitary providers managed by the Tricare health program.<\/p>\n A list of the affected facilities was published in 2020, but the reforms were paused early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, the plan was adjusted to build capacity at some facilities by bringing back patients and improving training opportunities for medical personnel.<\/p>\n In 2023, another list was published of 32 facilities slated for realignment, and lawmakers have since raised concerns regarding several hospitals that weren\u2019t on that list.<\/p>\n Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., said in July that Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point would lose its inpatient beds, downsized to a clinic.<\/p>\n Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sought protections in the Senate defense spending bill for a full-service hospital currently under construction at Fort Leonard Wood<\/a> following rumors that it would open next year as an ambulatory clinic.<\/p>\n And Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., demanded answers regarding the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon amid concerns that it, too, was slated to lose its inpatient, emergency room and surgical services.<\/p>\n Ossoff wrote Dr. David Smith, acting DHA director, asking for more information on the organization\u2019s plans for the hospital. Smith responded this month, saying the review is ongoing and no final decision has been made.<\/p>\n