ROCKVILLE, Md. – Boris D. Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H., the U.S. deputy surgeon general, who holds the rank of rear admiral, has been assigned as the commanding officer in Liberia of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps Ebola Response effective January 26.
He will be the commanding officer for a team of specialized officers from the USPHS who are deployed to manage and staff the Monrovia Medical Unit, a 25-bed field hospital dedicated to providing care to health care workers who become infected with Ebola.
Trained in family medicine and public health, and a board-certified physician in both preventive medicine (occupational) and dermatology, Rear Adm. Lushniak will be stationed in Monrovia for six weeks and will be leading the on-the-ground efforts and work with the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. State Department, the Liberian government and volunteer non-government organizations.
Rear Adm. Lushniak is a veteran of previous public health deployments including the World Trade Center, anthrax attacks and Hurricane Katrina. “I am very excited to be given this command assignment and am confident that we can make a difference,” said Dr. Lushniak.
The USPHS is an elite uniformed service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There are more than 6,800 full-time, highly qualified public health professionals in the Commissioned Corps, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations domestically and abroad.
With diverse clinical and public health backgrounds, Commissioned Corps officers deployed to Liberia are providing support and care for courageous Liberian and international health care workers on the front lines combatting the Ebola disease. In addition to their professional expertise, all officers will undergo further intensive training in Ebola response and advanced infection control prior to travel to Liberia.
The Monrovia Medical Unit.
Since opening its doors in the beginning of November 2014, the Monrovia Medical Unit has received and provided care for 29 healthcare workers, eight of whom have since recovered from Ebola and been discharged from the Monrovia Medical Unit. This is not only good news for the patients, but a positive sign for other brave health care workers on the front lines to know there are resources for them if they become ill with Ebola.
The Commissioned Corps anticipates each deployment to the Monrovia Medical Unit will last 60 total days, with four deployment rotations of 70 officers, to last six months.
Rear Adm. Lushniak has served as deputy surgeon general since November 2010 and was acting U.S. surgeon general from July 17, 2013, until December 18, 2014. He is a career officer and entered the USPHS as a lieutenant in 1988. He is the son of post-World War II immigrants from Ukraine. He completed his B.S. degree in medical sciences and his M.D. in a six-year honors program at Northwestern University, followed by his Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree at Harvard University. Dr. Lushniak completed a residency in family medicine at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago and a residency in dermatology at the University of Cincinnati.
U.S. Public Health Service
Rear Adm. Boris D. Lushniak in Atlanta, welcoming back the U.S. Public Health Service’s Team 1.