About Us

National Security Health Policy Center (NSHPC) - Organizational Structure

Pietro (Peter) Marghella, National Security Health Policy Center

Peter Marghella is the President and CEO of Medical Planning Resources, Inc. (MPR). Peter served for 20 years as a Medical Plans, Operations, and Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy, retiring as the Director of Medical Contingency Operations for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. His previous assignments include Chief of Medical Plans and Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Medical Plans and Intelligence for the US Pacific Command. Peter holds Master’s Degrees in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University, and National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

He is a Doctoral Candidate in Complex Emergency and Disaster Management at the Tulane University School of Public Health (the first candidate in the first such program in the Nation), and a member of the Inaugural Class of the National Preparedness Leadership Program at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Adjunct Faculty at the Tulane University School of Public Health; Visiting Faculty at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Health Services Administration; and Adjunct Faculty for the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies.

Peter is credentialed as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM ®) in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), and is a Fellow in the American College of Contingency Planners (ACCP), which he Co-Founded and served as its first President. Peter has published numerous book chapters, monologues and articles on medical planning, consequence management, and the role of health service support in complex emergencies and disasters. He is a frequent speaker at national- and international-level conferences and symposia addressing catastrophic casualty events and the threats of terrorism, describing strategic initiatives for the medical aspects of consequence management.

Other Relevant Career Experience :

  • 2006 – Lead Author for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Initial National Pandemic Influenza Response Plan
  • 2005 – Director of Medical Contingency Operations for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense (DoD). Lead Medical Planner for all U.S. disaster relief response efforts in the wake of the tsunami in Southeast Asia
  • 2004-2005 – At the request of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, detailed from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to provide the White House-directed assessments of medical preparedness for the eight (8) major National Special Security Events conducted during this period, including both national political conventions and the Presidential Inauguration.
  • 2004 – At the request of the Secretary of State, authored the medical plans supporting the Iraq Transition to Sovereign Government-status, a plan which described in detail how the Iraqi medical and public health infrastructure recovery would take place.
  • 2003 – At the request of the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the Homeland Security Council, detailed from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to author the Nation’s first “Catastrophic Incident Response Plans” which described the Federal Government’s response to an incident generating several hundred thousands of casualties at a single time.
  • 2002 – At the request of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, detailed from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to author the National Smallpox Response Plan describing the Federal government’s response to an outbreak (natural or terrorist-induced) representing a pandemic-level threat.
  • 2001 – As the Chief of Medical Plans and Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 9-11 attacks, directed the DoD’s response for prosecuting the medical consequence management efforts related to the attacks in New York and Washington, DC, and oversaw the medical planning by the U.S. Combatant Commands for the Global War on Terrorism.