Medical Officers in Charge - Boston Quarantine Station: Medical Officers in Command of Gallop's Island

The United States Public Health Service assumed command at the Gallops Island quarantine station on June 1, 1915 and have remained in charge of the city's maritime quarantine work to the present day. The Public Health surgeons who served as the Medical Officers in charge of Gallops Island played a critical role in the preventing the entry of communicable disease into America. This blog site documents the work of these exceptional surgeons and their contributions to the control of communicable disease in Boston during the period 1915 to 1945.

These surgeons had a wide range of expertise in the field of communicable disease including expert knowledge of plague prevention, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, undulant fever, leprosy, malaria, influenza, vaccine manufacturing standards, public health administration, institutional medicine (e.g. prisoners and veterans), vessel fumigation and rat control measures. Those selected for the post of Medical Officer in charge of the Boston Quarantine Station were some of the most well respected and accomplished surgeons in the Public Health Service. Only those surgeons with years of experience in smaller ports were considered for command in Boston. The 13 surgeons who served as the Medical Officer in charge during the period 1915 to 1945 had an average of 20 years in the Service before they took command of the Boston Quarantine Station. The thirteen surgeons who took command of the Boston quarantine station in this era were:

Public Health Service Physician/Years Served at Boston Quarantine Station

Medical Officers in Charge - Boston Quarantine Station

Saturday, December 10, 2016

U.S. Public Health Service Medical Officers at Gallop's Island