FDA REGIONAL OFFICE CONSOLIDATION
Executive Summary
FDA REGIONAL OFFICE CONSOLIDATION involves closing four of the 10 existing offices and incorporating the 40 affected regional office personnel into their respective district offices. The move, which becomes effective in October 1988, calls for closing offices in Boston, Kansas City, Denver and Seattle. In a July 7 "Talk Paper" announcing the change, FDA said that the effort to "streamline FDA's field operations" was "one of the last major goals of Action Plan Phase I." According to Office of Regulatory Affairs officials, the reduced regional offices will not impact the activities of district offices. Under the plan, regional boundaries will be redrawn and the new regions will be renamed. Descriptive geographic names will replace the present numerical designations. The consolidation follows the recent retirement of the four regional directors in charge of the closing offices. FDA noted that with 10 regional offices, some of the offices only had responsibility for overseeing one of FDA's 21 district groups. Under the six-region system, each regional office will have responsibility for at least three district offices. FDA Commissioner Young commented that "the restructuring will enhance the level of service and protection that FDA offers the public because it will make more effective use of FDA resources." FDA NEW REGIONAL OFFICES The following table lists FDA's six new regional offices by name, the location of the field office and the territories covered. NORTHEAST (New York City): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York State MID-ATLANTIC (Philadelphia): Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky SOUTHEAST (Atlanta): North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Puerto Rico MIDWEST (Chicago): Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota SOUTHWEST (Dallas): Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming PACIFIC (San Francisco): Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington