Photo By Regena Kowitz | Defense Health Network Pacific Rim’s new Deputy Director Capt. Kathleen Cooperman...... read more read more
SAN DIEGO – Capt. Kathleen Cooperman, the new deputy director for Defense Health Network Pacific Rim (DHN-PR), visited the Virtual Medical Operations Center (VMOC) at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) Sept. 3 to learn firsthand how the hub is transforming patient care and operational medical support across the Military Health System.
Cooperman, a native of Arlington, Virginia, comes to the network after serving as commanding officer of U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Okinawa and director of U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan, from July 2023 to August 2025. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a master’s degree in health administration, and the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California she has served in Navy Medicine’s Medical Service Corps for more than two decades.
NMCSD is one of nine military treatment facilities in the DHN-PR and during her visit, Cooperman received an overview of the VMOC’s current role, which includes providing real-time inpatient virtual care and tele-critical care support to military hospitals and clinics worldwide. By centralizing monitoring and leveraging specialized providers virtually, the VMOC extends critical care expertise to military treatment facilities and operational forces around the globe, improving readiness while delivering safe, high-quality patient care.
“As I learn about DHN Pacific Rim’s operations and capabilities, visits like this are so important,” Cooperman said. “My role is to listen, learn, and help connect the dots so we can integrate and scale capabilities like the VMOC into robust resources with global reach to provide health care expertise and strengthen collaboration across the Military Health System.”
Brian Howard, assistant director for support operations at DHN Pacific Rim, organized the visit to familiarize Cooperman with the VMOC’s role in supporting both military medical treatment facilities and operational missions.
“This center has grown from an idea several years ago into a capability that today supports more than two dozen MTFs,” said Howard. “It’s not about replacing in-person care, it’s about extending the expertise of medical specialists across the Military Health System to save lives.”
Howard explained that the VMOC model allows intensivists and other specialists to provide real-time guidance from San Diego to teams on the ground, from walking providers in an ICU at an overseas hospital through a difficult case to advising corpsmen and medics in the field.
“This is an extender of our medical force,” he said. “We can’t put a critical care specialist everywhere, but through the VMOC we can connect them to patients and providers who need their knowledge and skills—whether it’s at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, Madigan Army Medical Center, or a corpsman managing a traumatic injury downrange.”
Looking ahead, the VMOC is exploring opportunities to expand services such as EEG monitoring, ad-hoc dialysis, and advanced consultative support, while piloting new approaches to integrate digital health and readiness tools.
“The VMOC is impressive,” said Cooperman. “And to really maximize its potential, to take it to the next level, we need to define and codify the program requirements and organizationally align capabilities as a portfolio of assets to ensure we optimize the MHS as a system. Looking to the future and how we care for the warfighter during the next global conflict to save lives and keep them in the fight, this is the time to invest in resources like the VMOC and drive the readiness portion of the Defense Health Agency’s responsibility to the Indo-Pacific.”
Cooperman’s visit underscored DHA’s commitment to modernizing health care delivery, advancing digital health transformation, and ensuring medically ready forces. The VMOC, aligned with the DHA’s strategic priorities and the Military Health System’s Ready Reliable Care framework, represents one way the MHS is leveraging technology and innovation to deliver on its mission of caring for the joint force and their families—anytime, anywhere, always.
About Naval Medical Center San Diego:
The mission of NMCSD is to provide a superior experience for our patients, staff, and warfighters. NMCSD employs more than 5,000 active-duty military personnel, civilians, and contractors in Southern California to deliver exceptional care afloat and ashore.
About Defense Health Network Pacific Rim:
Defense Health Network Pacific Rim (DHN-PR) is one of the Defense Health Agency’s nine networks of hospitals and clinics that deliver high-quality health care to more than 140,000 enrolled beneficiaries, supporting major operational units through the Indo-Pacific. The DHN-PR headquarters is located in San Diego, overseeing military hospitals and clinics along the U.S. West Coast and overseas in Guam and Japan.
| Date Taken: | 09.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2025 20:34 |
| Story ID: | 548232 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
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