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Army’s first female surgeon general sworn in

The Army medical community is taking the many lessons learned from 10 years of war to sharpen its focus on prevention, wellness and healing troops’ physical and psychological scars, the service’s new surgeon general said.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, first woman and first nonphysician to become the Army’s surgeon general, was promoted and assumed her new duties at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., on Dec. 7.

She took command of Medical Command at a ceremony on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, two days earlier.

She succeeds Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, who is retiring after more than three decades of service.

“We are dedicated to identifying and caring for soldiers who have sustained physical and psychological trauma associated with a protracted war,” Horoho said at the Dec. 7 ceremony. “A focus on wellness and prevention will ensure that our soldiers are ready to heed the nation’s call.”

Horoho said among other priorities, she is focused on optimizing resources to deliver “efficient and effective” care to soldiers.

“One of Army medicine’s greatest challenges over the next three to five years is managing the escalating cost of providing world-class health care in a fiscally constrained environment,” she said. “I am confident that we will meet all challenges in true Army medicine fashion.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, who swore in Horoho, acknowledged her achievement as the first woman to assume the Army’s top medical post. The former deputy surgeon general and chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Odierno said, has “outstanding potential,” and is “exactly the kind of leader we want.”

Horoho said in a statement that she recognizes the significance of the move and denied she was the one to crack the “glass ceiling.”

“I would submit that I am just the next person that is passing through the crack that has been opened by pioneers, leaders who came before me, regardless of gender, culture, race or creed,” Horoho said. “What I bring to the job is not my gender, nor my clinical discipline, but my 28 years of experience and education in the field of health care.”

Horoho, who has commanded Western Regional Medical Command and at various Army hospitals in the U.S., holds the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, among other awards and decorations.

Led efforts on 9/11

At the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks, she led efforts to treat the injured. She said in an Army news story about the 10th anniversary of the attacks that military medicine has since progressed a long way.

“I would say, in almost every facet of health care we have learned lessons on and off the battlefield,” Horoho said.

At the Texas ceremony Dec. 5, Horoho said Army medicine is undergoing a “culture change.” Instead of taking care of soldiers only after they are wounded, “we’re moving toward wellness and the positives of what we’ve learned over 10 years of war,” she said.

This includes creating a continuum of care that connects the medical care soldiers receive on the battlefield all the way to the Army’s hospitals and clinics at home, she said.

Army medical professionals also are looking for ways to give resiliency skills to soldiers and their families; improve access to behavioral health care; develop its care for soldiers with concussive and blast injuries; and expand its pain management procedures to include nontraditional treatments instead of solely relying on prescription drugs.

“This is our opportunity to re-avow to our soldiers and their families that wherever they are, they’ll always have world-class health care,” Horoho said. “We are united in resolve to care for those who defend our nation.”

Army medicine — and the Army as a whole — will face challenges in the future, she said.

“I understand there’ll be significant challenges ahead and operational requirements,” she said. “I see those challenges as windows of opportunity to shape the future.”

In Texas, Odierno applauded Schoomaker, who, he said, “dramatically changed the face of Army medicine.” He cited Schoomaker’s leadership in the treatment of traumatic brain injury, blast injuries and pain management, among other areas.

“Every soldier today knows they are supported by the best medical care the world has to offer,” Odierno said.

In his remarks, Schoomaker said the Army is “a people business ... with the soldier as the nucleus,” and Army medics have fought alongside and cared for the nation’s war fighters throughout history.

“We are part of a long and storied legacy,” he said. “Army medicine has constantly innovated, and it can afford to follow no other path. I’m grateful our nation gave me the opportunity to serve.”