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National Naval Medical Center, Naval District Washington Leaders Form New Command

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090810-25
Release Date: 8/10/2009 9:07:00 PM

From National Naval Medical Center

Bethesda, Md. (NNS) -- The long and historic story of the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) began a new chapter when NNMC and Naval District Washington (NDW) leaders met to sign a Memorandum of Agreement Aug. 10.

NNMC Commander Rear Adm. Matthew Nathan and NDW Commander Rear Adm. P.J. Lorge met in the Roosevelt Room to create a new command, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bethesda.

The purpose of the memorandum is to realign the command of the campus with the base management model used throughout the Navy, creating a command structure separate from that of the medical center.

"Here we are in the Roosevelt Museum in the Medical Center and I can hear [President Franklin Delano Roosevelt] whisper, 'Guys, continue the legacy and get this right,'" Nathan said as he lifted the pen to sign the memorandum. "We have the crew here to do just that."

NSA Bethesda will support a defense secretary initiative to align financial resources of certain base operations and maintenance activities, which will thus improve accounting and funding for these activities throughout the Defense Department. Functions directly associated with the medical center's operations will remain under control of the medical center commander.

"This medical center is breaking new ground as we move toward a joint paradigm while executing BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure)," Nathan said. "It's really a pleasure to [begin] a working relationship with Naval District Washington and CNIC (Commander, Navy Installations Command) as we partner to create a Naval Support Activity, which will house one of the greatest federal medical center facilities in the country, and as we move toward a new joint health care [environment] in the National Capital Area."

Lorge moved quickly to name Capt. Michael Malanoski as the first prospective commanding officer of the NSA Bethesda. Malanoski, former deputy commander of NNMC, currently serves as chief of staff for the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

Malanoski will report directly to Lorge and adhere to directives and guidelines established by CNIC, which is responsible for shore installation management with the Navy.

Pending official orders, Malanoski will be in charge of staffing and organizing the new command and establishing a presence on the newly designated NSA Bethesda. As per the signed memorandum, NSA Bethesda will establish initial operating capacity by Oct. 1 and will become fully operational in 2010.

The realignment is expected to have little, if any, impact on daily operations of the various tenant commands that share NSA Bethesda. As the command evolves, it will eventually assume many of the duties normally associated with managing a military base, including security, base facilities operations and routine maintenance.

NSA Bethesda will continue to support those tenants with essential logistic and operational support currently provided at NNMC.

For more news from National Naval Medical Center, visit www.navy.mil/local/nnmc/.