The Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM), Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, wrapped up a two-week tour of the Asia-Pacific region to discuss top Army Medicine priorities, conduct key leader engagements with DoD and partner nations, and visit MEDCOM Treatment and Research Facilities. The trip afforded Horoho the opportunity to better understand the health care requirements for this critical region of the world, and how Army Medicine capabilities can be used to strengthen alliances, enhance diplomacy, and improve the health and security of the Asia-Pacific area of responsibility.
Horoho, along with Command Sgt. Maj. Donna A. Brock, Command Sergeant Major for the MEDCOM, kicked off their tour in Hawaii, followed by stops in Guam, Japan and Thailand before returning back to Oahu.
Horoho conducted town halls at medical treatment facilities and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) with Army and Department of Defense medical and medical research professionals where she discussed the four priorities of Army Medicine: combat casualty care, readiness and health of the force, a ready and deployable medical force, and meeting the health care needs of families and retirees.
"Not only are these [priorities] important for what we are doing today, they are important to ensure that we are preserving the right capabilities in the future," said Horoho during a town hall at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii.
Additionally, Horoho discussed the strategic landscape facing Army Medicine today and said that despite challenges such as a sluggish economy, rising health care costs and a decreasing Army end-strength, that it would not stop Army Medicine from achieving its end state.
Horoho discussed Army Medicine's shift from a healthcare system to a system for health and the focus on personal responsibility for adequate sleep, increased activity, and better nutrition.
"The decisions we make today impact our ability to continue to have improved health. All of those together are really helping us as we transition to a system for health," said Horoho.
During the trip, Horoho and Brock also participated in several key engagements and cultural exchanges with foreign military medical leaders across the region that included office calls with the Honorable Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and the Honorable Kristie Kenney, the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand. In Thailand, she visited AFRIMS - a key U.S./Thai research facility, a hospital responsible for rehabilitating wounded Royal Thai Army soldiers, and stopped at the Royal Thai nursing school.
Horoho said her meeting with international leaders was key in identifying and enhancing diplomatic and medical opportunities with coalition countries.
"We have to shape our opportunities to meet our health challenges," she said. "We have to take our medical capabilities that are now deployed [throughout] five continents and put them where they will be most effective. That will allow the right skill sets to be at the right place at the right time," she added.
Horoho also noted that the military rebalance to the Pacific may allow for continued and increased opportunities to interact with coalition members through medical partnerships.
"We can help other countries build upon their medical capabilities and medical structure, through training, through partnering, through direct healthcare, and through public health efforts to eradicate disease, and it's important that we start looking through those lenses in the future, especially in the Pacific," she said.
Horoho will take a similar tour in Europe later this year.
Social Sharing