U.S. Public Health Service Commander James “Jay” Carr has served in the PHS Commissioned Corps since 2006, after 12 years of service as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy.
He has won repeated recognition for operational excellence in healthcare operations, program management and administration, and for clinical research that advanced regulatory science and public health.
CDR Carr currently serves as Chief of the Medical Case Management Unit at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC), Office of Deputy Assistant Director for Healthcare Compliance. He leads about 50 multidisciplinary staff delivering reimbursable medical, mental health, and dental care and durable medical equipment for an estimated 52,000 patients in daily ICE custody at 23 ICE facilities nationwide as well as detainees housed in 170+ additional Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) facilities.
As the Senior Program Management Officer at the U.S. Defense Health Agency, CDR Carr previously led the joint Defense Department-Department of Health and Human Services Partnership for Psychological Health Initiative. In this capacity, he directed and managed a team of 125 U.S. Public Health Service field officers detailed to DoD to deliver Congressionally-mandated comprehensive, collaborative, and compassionate mental health and Traumatic Brain Injury care to millions of eligible DoD warfighters at 60+ Military Treatment Facilities in the United States and abroad. CDR Carr increased warfighters’ access to essential mental health care, decreased out-of-network referral costs, cut overall government spending, and identified areas of critical mental health care need across every Service.
Earlier, CDR Carr served as Senior Program Management Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he led a team of medical and scientific researchers reviewing new drug and biologic license applications for the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions and metabolic errors. CDR Carr’s efforts sped seven promising medications through the regulatory life cycle review process.
Previously, CDR Carr completed a number of assignments at the Defense Health Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He consistently delivered sustained superior performance in GS-15 / O-6 supervisory and leadership assignments, and won repeated professional recognition and agency awards for demonstrating innovative executive leadership across diverse Federal agencies. For example, CDR Carr steered a major Immigration and Customs (ICE) Enforcement detention facility clinic through the entire National Commission on Correctional Health Care accreditation process and achieved the clinic’s first-ever accreditation by a national entity, visibly enhancing the ability of ICE to provide compassionate medical care to its detainees.
CDR Carr’s robust academic and training record includes a Master of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and two Bachelors in Biology and Physician Assistant Studies. He received a Doctorate of Medical Science (DMSc) with a graduate certificate in Healthcare Administration and Management from the University of Lynchburg in September 2020. He is a Certified Correctional Healthcare Professional (CCHP), a Certified Acquisition Professional: PM, Level I, and a Certified Contracting Officer’s Representative.
CDR Carr is a Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, a Fellow of the Public Health Service Academy of Physician Assistants since 2008, a Member of the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2003, and a Life Member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. In July 2018, he was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to a four-year term on the Commonwealth of Virginia Advisory Board on Physician Assistants where he serves as the Vice-Chair. In 2019, he joined the Medical Society of Virginia.
His work has been recognized most recently with a Meritorious Service Medal (2019), an Outstanding Service Medal (2016), several Navy Commendation Medals, a Presidential Unit Citation (2015), a Joint Meritorious Unit Award (2015), and an Achievement Medal (2009).
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by LTC Sharon Denson and submitted on April 2020. The photographs are courtesy of CDR Carr.
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