Erica Schwartz

Erica Schwartz
Schwartz pictured as a commander in 2011
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Coast Guard United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
Years of service 2005–
Rank Rear admiral (upper half)
Commands held United States Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer
Awards Meritorious Service Medal (2)
Coast Guard Commendation Medal
Navy Commendation Medal

Rear Admiral Erica G. Schwartz is a US Coast Guard officer. She has degrees in medicine, public health and law from Brown University, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the University of Maryland. Schwartz joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2005 and served with the United States Navy in Annapolis, Maryland and Portsmouth, Virginia. She served with the US Coast Guard as Chief of Health Services and Chief of Preventative Medicine at the US Coast Guard headquarters and became its principal expert on flu pandemics. In 2015 she was appointed rear admiral and became the Coast Guard's Chief Medical Officer; since 2018, she has been its Director of Health, Safety and Work-Life.

Early life and career

Schwartz graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering from Brown University in 1994 and was awarded a doctorate in medicine from the same institution in 1998. She later attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and was awarded a master's degree in public health in 2000 and completed an occupational and environmental medicine residency in 2001. Schwartz also has a juris doctorate from the University of Maryland and has been admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.[1]

Schwartz joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2005.[2] Early in her career she worked for the United States Navy as an occupational medicine physician with postings that included chief of the occupational medicine, immunization and preventative medicine departments of the Annapolis, Maryland Naval Medical Clinic. Schwartz also served at the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.[1]

Schwartz served as Chief of Health Services and Chief of Preventative Medicine at the US Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, DC where she implemented disease surveillance, vaccination, screening and NBC countermeasure programs. She wrote the service's first ever pandemic influenza, anthrax and smallpox vaccination, quarantinable communicable disease, periodic health assessment and HIV policies. Schwartz also worked to develop health protection guidance for armed forces deployments following Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, the 2009 flu pandemic, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the West Africa Ebola outbreak.[1] She was appointed as the Coast Guard's principal expert on flu pandemics.[1] Schwartz has been awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, both the Coast Guard and Navy Commendation Medals and, in 2011, was recognised as one of the Military Health System female physicians of the year.[1]

US Coast Guard admiral

Schwartz was appointed rear admiral (upper half) in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) on 17 August 2015 ahead of her appointment as that service's Chief Medical Officer.[2][1] As of 2018 she was the USCG Director of Health, Safety and Work-Life and had responsibility for managing the service's 41 clinics and 150 sick bays. She oversees accident prevention, response and investigation and the provision of the service's child care, food supply, substance abuse, sexual assault and occupational health programs.[1]

In January 2018 Schwartz testified before the United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on the need for the service to transition to an electronic health record system, in line with the other US Armed Forces. She stated that the current paper-based record and prescription system did not allow efficient transfer of records from the USCG to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rear Admiral Erica Schwartz" (PDF). US Coast Guard. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 Braynard, Katie (17 August 2015). "Rear Adm. Erica Schwartz to take over as chief medical officer". Coast Guard All Hands. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Cebul, Daniel (1 February 2018). "GAO: Manual health records put Coast Guard personnel at risk". Federal Times. Retrieved 13 April 2018.

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