Joyce A. Murphy, President of Caritas Carney Hospital, has recently been appointed to a federal subcommittee reviewing the role of the Veterans Administration healthcare delivery system in communities nationwide and a state commission pursuing reforms in the Massachusetts corrections system.

In December, Murphy was appointed chair of the recently established nine member Department of Veteran's Affairs Advisory Subcommittee for the VA Boston Area. Murphy will lead one of 17 subcommittees established nationwide to assist the U. S. Department of Veteran's Affairs in deciding the shape, structure and role of Veteran's Affairs medical centers and campuses around the country.

Among the primary challenges facing the panel, under the leadership of Murphy, are an evaluation and recommendations for the future of four Boston-area VA hospitals in Bedford, Brockton, West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Among the options that must be evaluated, presented and discussed with veterans, social service organizations and communities served by these institutions are consolidation, redesign and relocation of specific inpatient, outpatient and long-term care services. Murphy expects to hold the first subcommittee meeting in March. Their recommendations are due in December 2005.

Current estimates indicate more than 26 million veterans nationwide, with 5.5 million being served within the VA healthcare system, including more than 4,000 veterans who have returned from duty in Iraq. In New England alone, there are more than 229,000 veterans currently being cared for within the system.

Murphy was also recently appointed to the Department of Corrections Advisory Council, established by Executive Order of Governor Mitt Romney, in late 2004. Chaired by Scott Harshbarger, the mandate of this 17-member commission, also known as the Corrections Review Board, includes "advising the Commissioner of Correction on correction policies and procedures, and overall administration of the Department of Corrections." The Council may also make recommendations to the Commissioner of Correction regarding goals for the future of the Department."

The establishment of this new Council was among several recommendations emerging from the Governor's Commission on Prison Reform. Murphy was one of two women serving on the Commission, which issued its final report in summer 2004 after an eight-month review of the state's prison system.