Bureau of State Services

was the first Chief of the Bureau of State Services. He had previously been Chief of the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation, and then Director of the National Institute of Health. By 1943, PHS contained eight administrative divisions, plus the National Cancer Institute, St. Elizabeths Hospital, and Freedmen's Hospital under the direct supervision of the Surgeon General. These divisions often had overlapping scopes, which was seen as administratively unwieldy. Additionally, some of these had been created and specified through several pieces of legislation that were inconsistent in their scope, while some had been created internally by PHS or delegated from its parent agency, the Federal Security Agency. BSS was largely the successor to the Division of States Relations, which had grown out of the Domestic Quarantine Division, one of the original 1899 divisions. The Division of States Relations became part of BSS upon its creation, but was soon split into eleven separate divisions. The other two preexisting divisions incorporated into BSS were the Division of Venereal Disease, and the Division of Industrial Hygiene. == Functions ==

The name of the bureau implied that its programs would be directed towards cooperation with U.S. states, including both technical expertise and financial grants-in-aid, and its functions were quite diverse. It had been created in 1912 and occupied a former U.S. Marine Hospital located in the former Kilgour Mansion. In the late 1940s it expanded into air, industrial, and chemical pollution and radiological health research, The occupational health programs arose from the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation, which was established in 1914, became the Division of Industrial Hygiene within the National Institute of Health in 1937, and moved into BSS upon its creation in 1943. Its primary functions moved from Bethesda to Cincinnati in 1950. BSS's workforce development programs were centered in both the Division of Public Health Nursing and the Division of Dental Public Health. These programs sought to assist the training of dentists and nurses through advice, construction and project grants to states, and traineeships. It also provided advice on the planning and administration of health services. During some of its existence, BSS also had responsibility for funding hospital construction by the states as part of the Hill–Burton Act, Mental Retardation Facilities Construction Act, and Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1963. These programs were through the Division of Hospital and Medical Facilities, which was instead part of the Bureau of Medical Services during the 1950s, but was part of BSS before and after this period. == Organizational development ==

BSS began with the three existing Divisions of States Relation, Industrial Hygiene, and Venereal Disease. As part of the initial organization of the bureau, the Division of States Relations gave rise to eleven new divisions: the Division of Tuberculosis Control in 1944; the Communicable Disease Center and Division of Hospital Facilities in 1946; and the Divisions of Chronic Disease, Dental Public Health, Engineering Resources, Public Health Education, Public Health Nursing, Sanitation, State Grants, and Water Pollution Control in 1949. Also in 1949, the Division of Hospital Facilities was transferred to the Bureau of Medical Services. In 1951, the Division of Chronic Disease and Division of Tuberculosis were consolidated into the Division of Chronic Disease and Tuberculosis. The Division of International Health was part of BSS during 1953–1959, but was part of the Office of the Surgeon General before and after this period. • The Division of Sanitary Engineering Services was superseded by the Division of Environmental Engineering and Food Protection, with the separate Division of Air Pollution Control and Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control being established. In addition, the Divisions of Dental Public Health and Public Health Nursing absorbed their corresponding divisions from the Bureau of Medical Services; the Division of Hospital and Medical Facilities was transferred from the Bureau of Medical Services, and the National Center for Health Statistics was created from the old National Office of Vital Statistics. == Fate ==

BSS was abolished at the beginning of 1967 in the first of four major reorganizations of PHS. In quick succession, PHS would be reorganized into three new bureaus, and then into two broad operating agencies, which would both be broken up by 1973, giving way to PHS's modern structure. Most of BSS's Community Health Divisions would join with the Bureau of Medical Services to form the Bureau of Health Services in 1967, and then become part of the Health Services and Mental Health Administration (HSMHA) in 1968. At the same time, BSS's divisions relating to training and professional development became the Bureau of Health Manpower in 1967, which was absorbed by NIH in 1968. except for two divisions that would become the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health within the CDC, and the Center for Devices and Radiological Health within the Food and Drug Administration. == Chiefs ==

The Chief of the Bureau of State Services was one of the positions holding the title of Assistant Surgeon General. • Charles L. Williams (1946–1951) • Joseph Walter Mountin (1951–1952) • Otis L. Anderson (1952–1957) • David E. Price (1958–1960) • Theodore J. Bauer (1960–1962) • Robert J. Anderson (as of 1963) • Aaron W. Christensen (by 1965–1966) == Divisions ==

Key: • SES = Division of Sanitary Engineering Services • SHS = Division of Special Health Services • GHS = Division of General Health Services • EH = Environmental Health divisions • CH = Community Health divisions • CPEHS = Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service • HSMHA = Health Services and Mental Health Administration • NIH = National Institutes of Health • EPA = Environmental Protection Agency • FDA = Food and Drug Administration • CDC = Center for Disease Control • HRA = Health Resources Administration == References ==