Puget Sound Military Health System officer delivers keynote speech at Tacoma award ceremony

By Mrs. Flavia Hulsey (Western Regional Medical Command)May 6, 2015

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1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Navy Capt. James Thralls, Puget Sound Military Health System chief operating officer, poses for a photo with the recipient of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and the Kiwanis Club of Tacoma's Howard O. Scott Citizen-Service M... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Navy Capt. James Thralls, Puget Sound Military Health System chief operating officer, speaks with Senior Master Sgt. Dellinger, 446th Airlift Wing, and his wife, Susan, following the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and the Kiwan... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Navy Capt. James Thralls, Puget Sound Military Health System chief operating officer, speaks with members of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and the Kiwanis Club of Tacoma before the organizations' Howard O. Scott Citizen-Se... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

A service member injured in combat today has a greater than 90 percent survival rate, a Puget Sound Military Health System officer recently shared with community members.

"This success is no accident -- it is directly attributable to the service and sacrifice of our dedicated uniform and civilian professionals. And it is directly attributable to the leadership in military medicine," said Navy Capt. James Thralls, Puget Sound MHS chief operating officer, during a keynote speech about leadership at the Howard O. Scott Citizen-Service Member of the Year Award Ceremony in late April.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Military Affairs Committee and the Kiwanis Club of Tacoma presented the 34th annual award to Senior Master Sgt. Scott Dellinger, 446th Airlift Wing, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Dellinger serves as an examiner loadmaster in the standardization and evaluation office and superintendent of the 728th Airlift Squadron loadmaster section. Dellinger is also a 17-year resident of Lakewood, Wash., and has served with the Kent Fire Department for 17 years, where he's been a captain since 2010.

As the community recognized one great leader, Thralls said he wanted to share the importance of leadership in military medicine while "caring for those entrusted to our care."

"Medicine is a worthy calling, and military service is both a humbling and honorable profession," Thralls said. "No other profession will afford someone the opportunity to care for and lead the very men and women who are charged with protecting the rights and freedoms that we enjoy in this country -- men and women like Senior Master Sgt. Dellinger."

Our enduring goal in military medicine, he added, is to ensure our service members, families and retirees have access to the best medical care possible.

In his role as the Puget Sound MHS COO, under the leadership of market manager Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Tempel, Jr. -- who also serves as the commanding general of the Army's Western Regional Medical Command -- Thralls supports the military health care delivery system in the Puget Sound.

Embracing a joint approach to the health care mission is one way military medicine is transforming, and this progress and recent high-level changes to military health care were made possible through the vision of great leaders, Thralls said.

In 2013, the Department of Defense established the Defense Health Agency, a leadership decision that fosters better collaboration, streamlines common services and ensures clearer lines of responsibility and authorities for military health care across all branches of service. At this time, areas with high concentration of military health care beneficiaries were identified, and enhanced multi-service markets were established in six geographical locations across the United States.

One of those enhanced multi-service markets was established in the Puget Sound with nearly 300,000 eligible active duty service members, retirees and their family members. The Puget Sound MHS includes four military treatment facilities: Madigan Army Medical Center, Naval Hospital Bremerton, Naval Hospital Oak Harbor, the Air Force's 62nd Medical Squadron, and also works closely with the Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"This partnership approach had never been done before, yet in our short existence we've enrolled and cared for nearly 160,000 beneficiaries," Thralls said. "We've established clinical leadership consortiums for surgical, medicine, OB/GYN and behavioral health services to leverage all market resources to ensure that we continue to improve the way we deliver the best healthcare possible to those entrusted to our care."

Thralls, who is nearing the end of a 30-year career in the Navy as a Medical Service Corps officer, said he recognizes that great leaders are visionary, driven, passionate and committed.

"Leadership is the honor, courage and commitment to do the right thing, set your vision for the future, sometimes take the harder path, and always make people the constant in your daily formula," he said. "In short, how we lead matters."

Related Links:

Army Medicine

Defense Health Agency

Navy Medicine

Western Regional Medical Command