On January 16^th 1912 Grover Kempf submitted his application to take the examination for an appointment as assistant surgeon in the Public Health Service.  He passed his exam and was commissioned as PHS medical officer on August 12, 1912.

He was detailed to Ellis Island within five days of receiving his commission, and spent a little over three years on this assignment. 

At Ellis Island, Officer Kempf conducted mental health examinations for the Public Health Service.  It was his job to determine whether or not a person was of sound mind.  If an individual was suspected of having mental problems she/he would be taken to a quiet room for further analysis.  An interpreter was always present.  This was usually a man or woman who as a rule was “well versed in the language of the immigrant.”

Usually, two medical officers were present in the room during the examination.  The test was then “conducted in a question and answer method.”  Immigrants were also given board tests in which they were required to fit blocks together in a specific way.  Officer Kempf recalls the use of his own test for immigrants suspected of having mental problems.  “I had one test there of the face, called the Kempf test, which required the immigrant to place the blocks in order to form a human face.” 

Because the Public Health Service was a mobile medical corps, medical officers were assigned to many different stations.  They were also, therefore, subject to be transferred to wherever there was a need for a physician.  Grover Kempf served at various immigration and quarantine stations in the United States and Europe.   In this manner, commissioned officers were exposed to a variety of public health issues.  

Like other medical officers at Ellis Island, Officer Kempf did not actively seek to exclude immigrants.  Basing his decisions on the simple need to prevent the spread of disease, Kempf and other officers actually excluded very few.