JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCORD, Wash. -- After more than a year of planning and coordinating, the Western Regional Medical Command is scheduled to finalize its merger with the Regional Health Command-Pacific, on Jan. 8, 2016.
Under the realignment, the WRMC Headquarters will be renamed RHC-Pacific (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) and will remain at JBLM. The command will be led by the two-star commanding general of Regional Health Command-Pacific (Hawaii), with a deputy commanding general overseeing the JBLM staff.
This merger is part of the U.S. Army Medical Department's reorganization that began last year. The plan included transforming the AMEDD's five regional medical commands to four multi-disciplinary regional health commands that incorporate dental and public health capabilities. The AMEDD reorganization is designed to posture Army Medicine to best support the Army's current and future operations.
Col. Christopher Gruber, WRMC's acting commander, said that the entire WRMC and RHC-Pacific teams are extremely excited regarding the synergy that the combined staffs in Hawaii and JBLM bring to the table.
"The RHC-Pacific team will continue to provide the same level of superior support to Madigan Army Medical Center at JBLM, Bassett Army Community Hospital in Alaska, and California Medical Detachment in California," he said. "Following the merger, our orientation for the staff here at JBLM will expand to provide support to the medical facilities in Korea, Japan and Hawaii, as well as, enhance readiness for our war fighting forces arrayed throughout the Pacific Command's area of responsibility."
Over the past few years, RHC-Pacific has become the most critical theater enabling command in the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, the command oversees more than a dozen medical facilities and provides world-class care to more than 600,000 beneficiaries in Hawaii, Korea and Japan.
A Casing Ceremony is tentatively scheduled to take place on Jan. 29, 9:00 a.m., at JBLM's French Theater. More details regarding the ceremony will be available in early 2016.
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