Page 1 GAO-25-107073 Coast Guard Medical Facilities
The U.S. Coast Guard, a military service within the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), is responsible for 11 statutory missions, including drug
interdiction and search and rescue. In support of its missions, the Coast Guard
provides certain health care services, such as annual physical examinations and
immunizations, to approximately 47,000 active-duty and reserve personnel. The
Coast Guard provides these services in coastal locations and on certain ships,
such as vessels that deploy for multiday operations to help ensure Coast Guard
personnel medical readiness. The majority of Coast Guard medical facilities are
managed as part of its shore infrastructure. The shore infrastructure includes
piers, docks, and boat stations at more than 20,000 government-owned or -
leased Coast Guard onshore facilities at more than 3,000 locations. A smaller
number of Coast Guard medical facilities are located on vessels and are thus
managed as part of such vessels.
The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023
includes a provision for us to study Coast Guard medical facilities.
1
We are
providing information on the overall condition and management of Coast Guard
medical facilities and how it manages the medical equipment for each medical
facility.
• The Coast Guard had 165 medical facilities, including 34 medical clinics, nine
satellite medical clinics, 65 ashore sickbays, and 57 afloat sickbay facilities,
as of July 2024. These medical facilities vary in the amount of space they
occupy, ranging from clinics that occupy the majority of a building to sickbays
that occupy one room.
• The Coast Guard is confronted with a costly backlog of shore infrastructure
projects, which include ashore medical facilities. Our prior work identified
actions needed to improve management of its shore infrastructure and
resource management. As of July 2024, the Coast Guard is in various stages
of addressing our shore infrastructure recommendations.
• The Coast Guard reports that 22 of its 26 facilities with 51 percent or more
space dedicated to medical and dental services are beyond their service life
and are in various conditions.
The types of medical facilities and medical and dental services the Coast Guard
manages vary based on the unit’s mission, service needs, and the number of
personnel served.
2
As of July 2024, the Coast Guard had 165 medical facilities,
including 34 medical clinics, nine satellite medical clinics, 65 ashore sickbays,
and 57 afloat sickbays. Figure 1 provides an overview of Coast Guard medical
facilities.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Coast Guard: Information on
Medical Facilities
-25-107073
Report to Congressional Committees
What types of medical
facilities and
services
does the Coast Guard
manage
?
