United States Army Medical Command The U . S . Army Medical Command ( MEDCOM ) is a direct reporting unit of the U . S . Army that provides command and control of the Army ' s fixed - facility medical , dental , and veterinary treatment facilities , providing preventive care , medical research and development and training institutions . MEDCOM is commanded by the Army Surgeon General , currently Lt . Gen . Patricia Horoho . The Surgeon General is also head of the U . S . Army Medical Department ( the AMEDD ) . Structure and subordinate commands . MEDCOM is divided into Regional Medical Commands ( RMCs ) that oversee day - to - day operations and exercise command and control over the Medical Treatment Facilities ( MTFs ) in their regions . There are currently five of these regional commands : Operations . In garrison ( peacetime ) . MEDCOM maintains day - to - day health care for soldiers , retired soldiers and the families of both . Despite the wide range of responsibilities involved in providing health care in traditional settings , as well as on the battlefield , quality of care compares very favorably with that of civilian health organizations , when measured by civilian standards , according to findings of the DoD ' s Civilian External Peer Review Program ( CEPRP ) . Many Army medical facilities report on their own quality - of - care standards on their individual website . Deployments . When Army field hospitals deploy , most clinical professional and support personnel come from MEDCOM ' s fixed facilities . In addition to support of combat operations , deployments can be for humanitarian assistance , peacekeeping , and other stability and support operations . Under the Professional Officer Filler System ( PROFIS ) , up to 26 percent of MEDCOM physicians and 43 percent of MEDCOM nurses are sent to field units during a full deployment . To replace PROFIS losses , Reserve units and Individual Mobilization Augmentee s ( non - unit reservists ) are mobilized to work in medical treatment facilities . The department also provides trained medical specialists to the Army ' s combat medical units , which are assigned directly to combatant commanders . Many Army Reserve and Army National Guard units deploy in support of the Army Medical Department . The Army depends heavily on its Reserve component for medical support — about 63 percent of the Army ' s medical forces are in the Reserve component . History . As the post – Cold War Army shrank , the U . S . Army ’ s Health Services Command ( HSC ) decided to change the way it did business and operate more like a corporation . In 1992 , HSC launched “ Gateway To Care ” , a businesslike approach to health - care delivery . This was to be localized managed care , with improved quality , access and cost . In a design based more on catchment - area management than the previous “ CHAMPUS Reform Initiative ” ( CRI ) , U . S . Army hospital commanders received more responsibility and managerial authority . Eleven “ Gateway to Care sites opened in the spring of 1992 . By that fall , all HSC facilities had submitted business plans which were favorably received . Starting in 1994 , “ Gateway To Care ” was gradually absorbed into a new regional Defense Department tri - service managed - care plan called TRICARE , which was modeled on CRI . In August 1993 , the U . S . Army Chief of Staff approved a plan to reorganize the AMEDD . The merger of several medical elements resulted in a new , expanded medical major command under the Surgeon General . In October 1993 , the " U . S . Army Medical Command ( Provisional ) " began a one - year process of replacing HSC and absorbing other AMEDD elements . Surgeon General Lt . Gen . Alcide M . LaNoue commanded the provisional MEDCOM , while Maj . Gen . Richard D . Cameron continued as HSC commander . In November 1993 , DENCOM and VETCOM were formed as provisional commands under the MEDCOM , to provide real command chains for more efficient control of dental and veterinary units — the first time those specialties had been commanded by the same authorities who provided their technical guidance . The next month , seven MEDCEN commanders assumed command and control over care in their regions . The new " Health Service Support Areas " ( HSSAs ) , under the MEDCOM , had more responsibility and authority than the old HSC regions . In March 1994 , a merger of Medical Research and Development Command , the Medical Material Agency and the Health Facilities Planning Agency resulted in creation of the Medical Research , Development , Acquisition and Logistics Command ( MRDALC ) , subordinate to the provisional MEDCOM . The MRDALC was soon renamed the U . S . Army Medical Research and Materiel Command ( USAMRMC ) . Then , in June 1994 , an additional HSSA was formed to supervise medical care in Europe , replacing the 7th Medical Command , which inactivated . That summer , the Army Environmental Hygiene Agency formed the basis of the provisional Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine ( CHPPM ) . Thus , in an unprecedented process of unification , U . S . Army medicine gradually came together in a new home under the command of the Surgeon General . Except for the field medical units commanded by the combat commanders , virtually all of Army medicine is now part of the MEDCOM . The MEDCOM became fully operational , dropping the " provisional , " in October 1994 . In 1996 , the HSSAs were renamed Regional Medical Command s .