Medical Facilities Standardization

Program Manager: 703-428-9138

Huntsville Center
Published Oct. 8, 2015
Updated: Sept. 21, 2022

The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, is the home of the Corps of Engineers’ Medical Facilities Mandatory Center of Expertise (MCX) and Standardization, which is located at the Humphreys Engineer Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Medical Facilities MCX partners with the USACE project delivery teams, regional divisions, geographic districts, and stakeholders to provide healthcare engineering expertise and the highest quality medical and medical research facility lifecycle support to the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies and foreign governments.

As part of the Huntsville Center, the Medical Facilities MCX responds to our traditional stakeholders’ needs as well as those of the Army and the nation. The Medical Facilities MCX was central in the HHS/FEMA COVID-19 response for Alternate Care Site guidance and remains ready to support future mission requirements.

The DOD Medical program funds the planning, construction, and operation of Army, Air Force and Navy medical and medical research facilities through the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Since originally directed by Congress and established in 1978, the Medical Facilities MCX has the responsibility to develop medical design and construction policies, technical guidance, procedures, criteria, specifications, and standards that integrate medically unique design, construction, and operational requirements. Use of Medical Facilities MCX services is mandatory for DOD medical military construction and is available on a reimbursable basis to provide support for others. ER 1110-345-721 authorizes the aforementioned, including review of Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization Projects and the establish of a Community of Practice. The Medical Facilities MCX currently supports 20 active military medical construction projects with 12 projects in design, with a combined value of $3.5 billion.

In 2016, the Medical Facilities MCX’s responsibilities were formally expanded to include a similar role supporting the USACE mission to execute project delivery for the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Partnering with HQ, the MSCs and several districts, we are supporting the acquisition, design and construction of 33 ongoing major medical treatment facilities, valued at $9.32 billion. The DVA Enterprise Program Management Plan (EPgMP) defines our roles similarly to that of DODM.

The Medical Facilities MCX’s highly experienced professional staff supports the development of acquisition strategies, schedules, comprehensive management plans, and scopes of work for architect-engineer services and other medically unique submittal requirements. The Medical Facilities MCX provides medically unique technical support and leadership in developing concept designs and provides technical review expertise throughout the design process. During construction, the Medical Facilities MCX assists with technical evaluation of construction changes or concerns, to ensure compliance with policy and criteria unique to medical facilities, and assists with commissioning, accreditation, and activation activities.

With our federal, industry and academic partners, we develop the codes, criteria and standards for medical facilities. We run the technical post occupancy evaluations, share lessons learned and research advances in our field. We ensure criteria facilitates world class medical treatment while enabling Corps’ district project delivery. In 2021 the Medical Facilities MCX established the USACE Medical Facilities Community of Practice, with over 200 members from within the enterprise and including DHA and DVA professionals to promote best practices and provide healthcare engineering educational opportunities.

Since its inception, the Medical Facilities MCX has supported approximately 500 medical treatment or medical research facility projects totaling more than $20B in design and construction costs. An unprecedented record of delivering high quality with many facilities recognized with national design awards from The American Institute of Architects, Modern Health Care Magazine, the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force, the Army, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Currently, we continue to prove our worth by adding value to missions of public health, emergency response and contingency support.

The MX provides technical consistency through leadership responsibility for design acquisition strategy and concept design development, with continued technical oversight and direction during final design and construction execution in all areas of the medically unique aspects of assigned projects. 

Our team includes 34 full-time USACE employees:

Project Directors
-  9 with various backgrounds in project management, engineering and construction management
-  One BIM Project Manager

Technical Engineering Staff
- 3 architects
- 3 electrical engineers
- 3 mechanical engineers
- 3 fire protection engineers
- 3 communication engineers
- 1 BIM technician


Fact sheet imageDownload the Medical Facilities MX Fact Sheet (PDF)

(as of September 2022)