core casualty receiving facility
(5) (A) The Secretary of Defense shall designate and maintain certain military medical treatment facilities as core casualty receiving facilities, to ensure the medical capability and capacity required to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate large volumes of combat casualties and, as may be directed by the President or the Secretary, provide a medical response to events the President determines or declares as natural disasters, mass casualty events, or other national emergencies. (B) The Secretary shall ensure that the military medical treatment facilities selected for designation pursuant to subparagraph (A) are geographically located to facilitate the aeromedical evacuation of casualties from theaters of operations. (C) The Secretary— (i) shall ensure that the Secretaries of the military departments assign military personnel to core casualty receiving facilities designated under subparagraph (A) at not less than 90 percent of the staffing level required to maintain the operating bed capacity necessary to support operation planning requirements; (ii) may augment the staffing of military personnel at core casualty receiving facilities under subparagraph (A) with civilian employees of the Department of Defense to fulfil the staffing requirement under clause (i); and (iii) shall ensure that each core casualty receiving facility under subparagraph (A) is staffed with a civilian Chief Financial Officer and a civilian Chief Operating Officer with experience in the management of civilian hospital systems, for the purpose of ensuring continuity in the management of the facility. (D) In this paragraph: (i) The term “core casualty receiving facility” means a Role 4 medical treatment facility that serves as a medical hub for the receipt and treatment of casualties, including civilian casualties, that may result from combat or from an event the President determines or declares as a natural disaster, mass casualty event, or other national emergency. (ii) The term “Role 4 medical treatment facility” means a medical treatment facility that provides the full range of preventative, curative, acute, convalescent, restorative, and rehabilitative care.