Deputy Director, Defense Health Agency
Dr. Michael Malanoski is the Deputy Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA). He supports the DHA Director in leading a joint, integrated Combat Support Agency enabling the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime. The DHA directs the execution of joint shared services to include the TRICARE Health Plan, pharmacy, health information technology, research & acquisition, education & training, public health, medical logistics, facility management, budget resource management, and contracting. The DHA administers the TRICARE Health Program providing worldwide medical, dental and pharmacy programs to more than 9.6 million uniformed service members, retirees and their families.
Malanoski entered the Navy in 1973 through the Navy ROTC Scholarship program. After graduating Summa cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Mass., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, he accepted a scholarship from the Health Professions Scholarship Program and attended Georgetown University School of Medicine. Upon completion of medical school in 1981, he reported to Portsmouth Naval Hospital (PNH) to begin his career as a medical officer in the Navy Medical Department.
Beginning with his surgery internship at PNH, Malanoski spent the next 15 years at various commands within the Tidewater area. Upon completion of his internship, he reported to the USS Austin LPD-4 as the ship’s medical officer. He then returned to PNH in 1983 to start his General Surgery residency. Following his residency training, he became the ship’s surgeon aboard the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67 in 1987 until the summer of 1998 when he reported to PNH as a staff surgeon. In addition, he deployed for seven months with Fleet Hospital Five as a staff surgeon during Operation Desert Storm.
In 1996, he transferred to the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Maryland, where he held multiple leadership positions including: Director of the Breast Care Center, Chief of the Operative Care Service line, and Medical Director. Subsequent leadership positions included Director of Medical Surgical Services at NNMC, Chief of Staff to the Regional Commander for the National Capital Area (NCA), Deputy Director of the Office of Integration for the NCA, Deputy Commander of NNMC, and Chief of Staff for the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED). In August 2009, he was selected as the first Commanding Officer of Naval Support Activity Bethesda.
Malanoski retired from active service in 2011 and served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Futures and Innovation (M5) in BUMED in March 2012. He was intimately involved with the implementation of the Military Health System (MHS) Governance changes resulting in the establishment of the DHA. In May 2014 he was detailed to Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) for nine months to serve as lead action officer for the Secretary of Defense directed MHS review, a landmark study on MHS performance in the areas of patient safety, quality, and access. In July 2015 he became Executive Director of BUMED, serving nearly seven years until he joined the DHA.