UGB Health Security Agency
The UGB Health Security Agency (HSA) is a government agency under the Civil Executive of the Unified Governorates of Benacia, a subordinate realm of the Benacian Union. It is responsible for public health, disease control, medical infrastructure and assets within the UGB territory.
History
The HSA operates under the supervision of the UGB Commission for Internal Affairs and was formed from medical resources transferred from the Black Legions and Benacia Command after the Benacian Union Defence Force was established in 1698 AN. This included inheriting personnel and assets from the Sanitäts Uihmanz (Medical Corps) and absorbing members of the Corps of Invalids.
Established in 1673, the Sanitäts Uihmanz was the medical corps of the Black Legions, subordinate to the Inspectorate of the Commissariat. Its primary mission was maintaining troop health and providing combat medical services. This included:
- Medical screening and fitness testing of recruits
- Emergency treatment for personnel wounded in operations
- Maintaining physical standards of active legionaries
The central Sanitäts Uihmanz hub was the Medical Service Station in Altan, with a support network of field hospitals, triage stations and front-line medical teams extending down to each deployed unit. At its peak, it employed over 211,000 personnel across 65 hospitals and 826 clinics in Benacia.
In 1674, a Veterinarian Service was added to study and respond to the biomancer-engineered horrors emerging in former Minarboria.
After reoccupying the United Isles, personnel from the Black Legions who completed their service or were deemed unfit were transferred to the Corps of Invalids to garrison Florencia. This included:
- Retired officers, legionaries and specialist personnel like aerospace/maritime forces
- Family members relocating with invalided personnel
The favourable climate made Florencia a desirable posting for colonial settlement by invalided loyalist troops after the war.
Organisation
The HSA has a paramilitary structure inherited from the Black Legions, comprising:
- Central Directorate - Agency headquarters
- Regional Commands - Sub-divided into local districts, corresponding with governorates of the realm
- Medical Services Division - Hospitals, clinics, emergency response
- Biosecurity Division - Disease surveillance, epidemic control, decontamination
- Logistics & Infrastructure - Supplies, maintenance, transportation
- Research & Development - Laboratories, medical research
Personnel belong to the HSA Service Corps but can be attached to other groups like the Benacian Union Defence Force as required.
Key Facilities
Key inherited medical facilities include:
- Gaelen Hospital - Major teaching hospital in Merensk
- Royston Merrick Research Station - Biosafety Level 4 lab near Ardashirshahr
- Altan Cantonments - Quarantine and outbreak response centre
- Somnis Biological Defence Laboratories - Former Benacia Command research site
- Ikol Air Ambulance Hub - Transport and medevac services
Roles & Activities
The HSA's mandate covers:
- Managing specialist hospitals, clinics and emergency services
- Disease surveillance, contact tracing and outbreak response
- Biosafety regulation, hazard prevention and decontamination
- Healthcare logistics and medical supplies
- Public health campaigns and preventative medicine
- Medical research conducted through HSA laboratories
- Support to the medical services of the BUDF and the Grand Commissariat of Benacia Command.
It also works closely with the Bureau of Coordination and Harmonisation and the Public Order Forces in order to proactively identify and contain threats to public health. Pertinent information concerning the health and welfare of subjects is also routinely shared with the Benacian Censorate and Magisters-Carnifex via the Panopticon Nexus.
