After the war, Woodworth became a companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Following the Civil War, Woodworth spent a year in Europe, receiving clinical instruction chiefly in the hospitals of Berlin and Vienna.

The 1798 law created a fund to be used by the Federal Government of the United States to provide medical services to merchant seamen in American ports, which was expanded to include military and others who made their living associated with seagoing.

In 1869, the United States Secretary of the Treasury commissioned an extensive study of the marine hospitals, and the resulting critical report led to the passage of reform legislation in the following year.

He adopted a military model for his medical staff, instituting examinations for applicants instead of appointing physicians on the recommendation of the local Collector of Customs.

In this way, Woodworth created a cadre of mobile, career service physicians who could be assigned and moved as needed to the various marine hospitals.

From the time of his appointment, Woodworth envisioned broader responsibilities for the Marine Hospital Service, well beyond the care of merchant seamen.

He issued publications on cholera and yellow fever, and laid the foundations for the passage of the National Quarantine Act of 1878.

With minor changes in design, this device has remained the seal of the Public Health Service to the present day.