The Mission of the Administration Committee is to serve the United States Public Health Services (USPHS) Therapist Category as a functional part of the Therapist Professional Advisory Committee (TPAC) by:

• Ensuring all TPAC activities are in compliance with the TPAC Charter and Bylaws.
• Supporting Category Day during the annual COF Scientific and Training Symposium.
• Ensuring the integrity and transparency of all TPAC financial affairs and transactions.
• Managing TPAC coin sales.
• Managing TPAC Awards.
• Supporting the Assistant Secretary of Health’s and Surgeon General’s Health Initiatives and Priorities.
• Increasing TPAC’s visibility through positive interactions in the Communities we serve.

Chair: LCDR Jamie Kamon-Brancazio: (Jamie.Kamon-Brancazio@fda.hhs.gov)

Deputy: LT Zavera Brandon: (zavera.brandon@nih.gov)

Subcommittees and Task Forces under this committee include:

• Awards Subcommittee
• Charter, Policies & Procedures Subcommittee
• COF Category Day Planning Task Force
• TPAC Resources Representatives

Awards Subcommittee

Chair: CDR Justin Feola: (JFeola@bop.gov)

The primary responsibilities of the Awards Subcommittee are:

• Oversight and timely communication of all TPAC award activities and processes.
• Communication of information regarding awards external to the Therapist Category (e.g. USPHS Black Commissioned Officers Advisory Group awards, The Society of Federal Health Professionals awards)
• Communication of information regarding awards internal to the Therapist Category: TPAC Category Awards and TPAC Honor Awards
• TPAC Category Awards
  
  • The William Fromherz award was created in memory of CAPT William Fromherz whose career contributions and accomplishments so positively impacted on the programs to which he was assigned, the physical therapy profession he represented, and the USPHS Commissioned Corps he so proudly served. The William Fromherz Award is presented to a career officer in the Therapist Category who is recognized by his/her peers for outstanding contributions in clinical care, program development, administration, or a combination thereof. The officer is recognized for the positive impact his/her contributions have made on the health care profession, the officer's program, and/or the Commissioned Corps during his/her career in the USPHS.
  • The Josef Hoog Award was created in memory of CAPT Josef Hoog, physical therapist, whose leadership advanced the physical therapy and occupational therapy professions by promoting the use of objective clinical measures which provide a rich source of data for research. The Josef Hoog Award was developed to foster research and publication by members of the USPHS Therapist category. Papers reflect published work. The award is intended to stimulate USPHS therapists to participate in research and publish their results.
  • The Senior Therapist of the Year Award is presented to a Senior Therapist who is recognized by his or her peers for outstanding contributions, in leadership and advancement of public health over the past calendar year.
  • Junior Therapist of the Year Award: The Junior Therapist of the Year Award is presented to a junior officer who is recognized by his or her peers for overall performance in the delivery of quality healthcare and outstanding contributions in the area of clinical healthcare/healthcare management over the past calendar year.
  • Therapist Responder of the Year Award: The Therapist Responder of the Year Award, established in 2017, acknowledges active duty, retired, and Inactive Reserve Corps therapist officers in the Commissioned Corps, who have made outstanding achievements and contributions in emergency preparedness in a deployment role and/or disaster response to national or international public health threats within the calendar year. The award recipient will be selected using the following criteria:
    • Contributions to emergency preparedness and/or disaster response within the last calendar year.
    •  Impact on public health preparedness and response.
    • Therapist skills and knowledge used in traditional and non-traditional roles to achieve significant accomplishments related to emergency response, preparedness, and disaster management.
    • Publications and presentations in the public arena related to preparedness and response.
    • Therapist Role, or what role you were command to contribute too, and how this impacted the deployment.
    • Training and education applicable to preparedness and response.
    • Willingness to give credit to the Corps for deployment activities (i.e., crediting the Corps in presentations and publications).
• TPAC Honor Awards: See the following link (https://dcp.psc.gov/CCMIS/COAP/COAP_award_criteria_m.aspx)for a description of each type of TPAC honor awards listed below:
  • Individual Award
  • Achievement Medal (AM), Commendation Medal (CM), Outstanding Service Medal (OSM)
  • Unit Commendation
  • Outstanding Unit Commendation
• DEADLINE: CPO Awards Board Review Cycles- Must be Submitted to TPAC Award Subcommittee Chair one month BEFORE the beginning of each cycle date.
• Nomination Process
  TPAC honor award nominations must be submitted to the TPAC Awards Subcommittee Chair.
  Click on the link below, on APAN, for access to required documents to include in the nomination packet for each type of award:
  ▪ Individual Honor Award: (https://community.apan.org/wg/tpac/m/documents?folderId=cb35302f-4ccf-e911-81ee-defe5c97a6b7&parentId=da781801-7bce-e811-81e2-e7d5657b296a&GalleryPostSort=Subject&SortOrder=Ascending)
  ▪ Unit Commendation Honor Award: (https://community.apan.org/wg/tpac/m/documents?folderId=ab63db2b-4dcf-e911-81ee-defe5c97a6b7&parentId=da781801-7bce-e811-81e2-e7d5657b296a)
• Honor award submission date cycles change so be aware of deadlines.
• TPAC Honor award nominations will be accepted any time before the award cycle opens. Nominations WILL NOT be accepted by the TPAC Awards Subcommittee Chair on the day the award cycle opens.
• Nomination process is a follows:
  • A completed TPAC honor award nomination packet is sent to the Awards Subcommittee Chair.
  • The Awards Subcommittee Chair forwards the packet to the TPAC Chair.
  • TPAC Chair sends the nomination packet back to the Awards Subcommittee Chair who then forwards to the TPAC CPO.
  • The TPAC CPO returns the nomination packet to the Awards Subcommittee Chair.
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  • The Awards Subcommittee Chair forwards nomination to the CPO Awards Board who then sends the nomination up to the Commissioned Officers’ Awards Program (COAP) and the Office of Surgeon General Awards Board (OSGAB).
• At any point during the nomination process, honor award nominations can be denied from either the TPAC Chair, TPAC CPO or the CPO Awards Board with opportunity afforded to the nominator to revise the award nomination for re-submission.
  From beginning to end, the Awards Subcommittee Chair is responsible for tracking award nominations.
• From beginning to end, the Awards Subcommittee Chair is responsible for tracking award nominations.

Charter, Policies & Procedures Subcommittee

Chair: CAPT Josef Otto (Josef.otto@cms.hhs.gov)

The Charter, Policies & Procedures Subcommittee is responsible for the routine review and revision of the TPAC Charter and Policy and Procedure Manual, which may be located within the TPAC Bylaws. Both documents are available on All Partners Access Network (APAN)

TPAC Charter: (https://community.apan.org/wg/tpac/m/charter_and_bylaws/358652)

TPAC Bylaws: (https://community.apan.org/wg/tpac/m/charter_and_bylaws/386504)

COF Category Day Planning Task Force

Chairs: LCDR Carla Chase: (Carla.Chase@cms.hhs.gov) LCDR Kevin Healy: (khealy@bop.gov)

This group manages the logistics of organizing times and places of category activities at the annual COA conference. The COF Category Day Task Force works with the COF Meeting General Planning Committee and COF meeting planners to coordinate the Therapist Category educational programming, speaker assignments, room assignments, and audio/visual needs. The Task Force also works with the TPAC Awards Subcommittee to coordinate the recognition of awardees. 

TPAC Resources Representatives: COA Acct/Coins:  LCDR Jamie Kamon-Brancazio (jamie.kamon-brancazio@fda.hhs.gov)

The primary responsibility of the TPAC resource representative is to monitor TPAC funds which are managed by a third-party organization outside of the Therapist Category and Committee. The Category resources account is maintained to provide adequate funding for training opportunities for therapists in the Category. Money from the Therapist account is generally used for expenses related to Category Day at the annual COF Training Symposium. The Representative manages the procurement, selling, and tracking of Therapist Category coins. The Representative works in conjunction with the Awards Subcommittee and Retirement and Recognition Coordinator to procure recognition items.

To inquire about a Therapist Category Coin: Contact LCDR Jamie Kamon-Brancazio (jamie.kamon-brancazio@fda.hhs.gov)