Sponsors (2)
The bill improves military and selected civilian hospitals' readiness and surge capacity for declared emergencies, but does so at the expense of additional DoD resources, potential strain on local civilian care, legal coordination challenges, and uneven geographic coverage.
Hospitals and academic medical centers in selected hubs (and the military treatment system) will get regular DoD coordination and the ability to mobilize civilian clinical personnel, improving surge capacity and overall readiness for wartime or catastrophic patient surges.
Service members will have stronger access to timely, definitive care during declared emergencies through maintained staffing, training, and movement protocols.
The Program establishes a standing, accountable mechanism with required reports to Congress (initial report in 180 days and annual reports), increasing transparency about readiness, resource gaps, and program performance.
Civilian hospitals in participating hubs may face operational strain when clinicians are mobilized to support military or surge missions, reducing local civilian care capacity for patients with chronic and routine needs.
The program requires expanded DoD involvement and staffing, which will likely increase taxpayer costs or force reallocation of defense resources away from other priorities.
Selecting a limited set of (minimum eight) hubs concentrates program resources regionally and risks leaving rural and other non-selected communities with less direct access to the program's benefits.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a DOD‑led Military‑Civilian Medical Surge Program to partner with at least eight logistics/transport hub locations and civilian health systems to improve surge readiness and NDMS interoperability.
Introduced December 9, 2025 by Donald J. Bacon · Last progress December 9, 2025
Creates a Department of Defense–led Military‑Civilian Medical Surge Program to strengthen the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) by pre‑positioning staff, training, research, and coordination at selected transport or logistics hub locations partnered with public, private, nonprofit health organizations and academic medical centers. The program assigns management and deployment responsibilities to the Institute for Defense Health Cooperation at the Uniformed Services University, requires interagency coordination with HHS and military health organizations, mandates regular meetings and reporting, and directs the Secretary to select at least eight partnership locations and submit an initial report within 180 days and annual reports thereafter.