New Military and Veterans Health Coordinating Board Executive Director Named

Washington, D.C. — The newly created Military and Veterans Health Coordinating Board (MVHCB) today announced its first executive director, retired Army Major General Robert G. Claypool, M.D.

President Clinton established the MVHCB to ensure a fully coordinated, interagency approach to protect the health of servicemen and women, veterans and families. The principal members and co-chairs of the board are the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Appointees from each of the departments will serve on the board’s work groups to accomplish the recommendations of Presidential Review Directive-5 (PRD-5).

PRD-5, “A National Obligation: Planning for Health Preparedness for and Readjustment of the Military, Veterans, and Their Families After Future Deployments,” laid out a comprehensive set of goals, objectives and strategies addressing the areas of deployment health, research, recordkeeping, and risk communication that built upon lessons learned from past deployments.

The MVHCB is modeled after and collocated with the Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating Board (PGVCB), which the President created in 1994 to work to resolve health concerns of Gulf War veterans. The mission of that board remains unchanged. Claypool will serve as the executive director of both boards.

Claypool joined the MVHCB following his Dec. 31 retirement from the military, where he served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for health operations. Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Claypool also has a subspecialty certification in rheumatology. His past Army assignments include service as commanding general of Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

He has served in the Army since 1965 in a variety of positions including commander of community hospitals and as an internal medicine residency program director. His assignment to the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 1999 involved policy in various components of DoD’s force health protection program.

A native of Oak Park, Ill., Claypool attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago.

In taking the helm for administrative operations of both boards, Claypool will develop strategies to promote collaboration and information sharing among federal officials as well as improved risk communications among the departments, servicemembers, and veteran constituencies.

The collocation of the two boards will use the lessons learned from the Gulf War in developing and implementing a highly effective force health protection program for future military deployments.