Photo By Alexandra Shea | Maj. Kimberly Moore, a labor and delivery clinical nurse, Evans Army Community...... read more read more
Evans Army Community Hospital welcomed retired Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, 43rd U.S. Army Surgeon General and former commanding general of U.S. Army Medical Command, on July 20.
Horoho traveled to Colorado for civilian business purposes and took an opportunity to reach out to a close work colleague. That colleague is Evans ACH Commander Col. Eric S. Edwards.
Edwards served as Horoho’s first executive officer when she became the first woman to serve as U.S. Army Surgeon General during a time of change in Army Medicine. A friendly phone call turned into an opportunity for the hospital’s leadership to get a chance to talk to her face-to-face and learn from her years of experience.
“I could not have learned more from anyone else,” said Edwards. “To see the challenges that she went through and the manner in which she established credibility and relevance in Army medicine was like nothing I had ever imagined.”
Leadership from across Evans ACH gathered in the Aspen Room for breakfast with Horoho, where she spoke about a variety of challenges she faced during her time in Army Medicine and being the first woman to take on the job as surgeon general. As leadership members listened, they thought about questions and advice to ask.
Later in the day, Horoho was the guest speaker during a leadership engagement where she spoke on the topic “Leading through Transition.”
Much like battlefield tactics and military technology, Army Medicine must also change to continue to improve the lives of patients, ensure medical readiness and have growing room.
“You all are leading at a time where there is tremendous change,” said Horoho. “With tremendous change, comes tremendous opportunities.”
She continued to explain that with so many changes happening, sometimes leaders can feel like they are losing. This feeling of loss can sometimes cause leaders to resist embracing new concepts, plans and ideas for improvement.
“When you hold on to what you have,” said Horoho. “You keep exactly what you have.”
She encouraged leaders to embrace change and recognize opportunities for personal and professional growth, and to build hope in future leaders through their actions during these times of change.
“Decisions have been made,” said Horoho. “So you have a choice. You can either dig your heels in and be frustrated or you can say ‘How do I shape that.’”
As Horoho ended her speech, the floor was opened to questions from the attendees. The questions varied from changes in medicine, finding balance between a professional career and personal life, how Horoho overcame the challenges she faced during her time as the surgeon general, and tips on building hope to empower fellow team members.
“It was a really great engagement,” said Edwards. “She spoke to our commitment to readiness and commitment to being there when you need us the most.”
| Date Taken: | 07.20.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2018 14:44 |
| Story ID: | 287688 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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