TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Hawaii - Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, Army surgeon general and U.S. Army Medical Command commander, spoke to U.S. Army soldiers and Department of Defense civilians on strategic priorities and initiatives for military medicine during a town hall meeting here Feb. 24, 2014.
Horoho talked about four priorities including combat casualty care, readiness and health of the force, ready and deployable medical force and the health of families, using past experiences to help define the medical future and explain what she’s learned.
“What I realized is that we have to make sure that people understand what we do everyday in our military treatment facilities as a readiness factor,” Horoho said. “We have got to redefine how we look at ourselves and make sure that our narrative matches up with what we do. That’s why these priorities are so important.”
Horoho explained why establishing good readiness within the medical treatment facilities is a major priority.
“We have to look through the lens of medical capability that can be modular, scalable and [able to be tailored] to be able to really support the readiness of our Army and of our nation,” Horoho said. “That’s where our medical readiness comes in, to ensure that we are medically ready with our skill sets.”
At the end of the town hall meeting soldiers and DoD civilians were able to participate in a question and answer session where Horoho responded to concerns within the medical community.
Horoho closed the session by thanking the men and women of the Tripler Army Medical Center for their day-to-day dedication.
The town hall meeting is a part of a two week-long tour across the Asia and Pacific where Horoho discussed priorities in Hawaii, Guam, Japan and Thailand.