The Surgeon General of the United States Army, Lieutenant General Patricia D. Horoho, met with the University of Hawai`i John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) Dean Jerris Hedges on campus today. Also attending the meeting were Brigadier Gen. Keith Gallagher, commander of the Tripler Army Medical Center (Tripler) and JABSOM Sim Tiki Center Simulation Chief Benjamin Berg.
Lt. General Patricia Horoho, US Army Surgeon General
The U.S. Army’s Medical Command oversees Army medical facilities, including Tripler, the only federal tertiary care hospital in the Pacific Basin. (Tertiary signifies a major hospital with a full complement of services including pediatrics, obstetrics, general medicine, gynecology, psychiatry, surgery and the like.) Tripler supports 264,000 local active duty and retired military personnel, their families and veterans in Hawai`i. Tripler is the home of the Pacific Regional Medical Command, one of six geographically-based regional medical commands in the U.S. Army Medical Command. For an idea of how extensive the entire reach of Dr. Horoho’s command is, in any single day across the nation, nearly 42,000 clinical visits are provided by Army Medicine caregivers.
The Army Surgeon General's meeting at JABSOM
The U.S. Army and Tripler are active partners with JABSOM in supporting medical education in Hawai`i. JABSOM facilities, including the Sim Tiki Center (our simulation laboratory) are used to help train military caregivers. Tripler also provided important support which helped the community open a multi-disciplinary family medicine clinic in Hilo to serve more patients on Hawai`i Island, a medically underserved rural area. Students from the UH health sciences – in medicine, nursing and pharmacy — also train in a partnership at the Hilo site.
The Army Surgeon General’s visit to JABSOM comes on the eve of an important occasion. Tomorrow, June 14, is the U.S. Army’s 237th Birthday. Welcome to Hawai`i, General!
Pictured: Above, the Dean shares a laugh with Horoho. Below, the meeting at JABSOM.
