American Hospital Association Honors Two Federal Health Care Leaders with 2014 Awards

WASHINGTON (July 24, 2015) – The American Hospital Association (AHA) presented two federal hospital leaders with awards recognizing their outstanding service to the health care field. These awards recognize uniformed and non-uniformed federal health care leaders who have distinguished themselves through singularly significant or innovative achievements and leadership that have contributed substantially to the mission of the federal health system.

“The honorees exemplify dedication to excellence and service to their country and, on behalf of the American Hospital Association, I thank them for the work they do each day,” said Rich Umbdenstock, AHA president and CEO. “Our federal hospitals are priceless resources to our nation. The care provided is critical and the knowledge shared with other hospitals has added immeasurably to our capacity to treat complex conditions.”

The recipient of the 2014 Federal Health Care Executive Award for Excellence is retired Brig. Gen. Charles E. Potter, United States Air Force.

As director of Manpower, Personnel and Resources and chief of the Medical Service Corps in the Office of the Surgeon General in Falls Church, Va., retired Brig. Gen. Charles E. Potter advised the Air Force Surgeon General on all aspects of planning, programming, budgeting and execution for a Defense Health Program manpower portfolio that supported 2.6 million beneficiaries and 75 military treatment facilities worldwide. He also was responsible for personnel policy, force development and staffing requirements for 43,000 active-duty officer, enlisted and civilian personnel and was responsible for all Air Force medical education and training worldwide. As the Corps Chief, Medical Service Corps, Potter was the senior health care administrator in the Air Force and responsible for accessions, development and management of 960 health care administrative professionals in the corps.

Potter has been a major contributor to the Military Health System Governance structure. As the first-ever chairman of the Defense Health Agency’s Medical Operation group, he supported centralized, coordinated policy executive and guidance for delivering health services to all who rely on the military health system. He recently retired after 35 years of military service.

The recipient of the 2014 Federal Health Care Executive Special Achievement Award is Col. James D. Carrell, United States Army.

Col. James D. Carrell was a lieutenant colonel and chief of the Reception Medical Clinic at Fort Jackson, S.C., when he identified a significant problem: In 2013, only 1 percent of soldiers who received their basic training at Fort Jackson were arriving at their first duty station with their vision readiness, immunizations, Medical Warning Tags and lab results documented in MEDPROS, the Army’s medical record system.

Carrell led his clinic staff of 55 civilians in improving medical readiness by developing innovative processes, reengineering jobs, implementing new technologies, designing software programs, improving teamwork, changing work flow and distributing the work load. Carrell earned the support of his staff and union without requiring additional personnel resources or financial assets. When he was finished, 99 percent of soldiers from Fort Jackson arrived at their duty station with complete records.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The
AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information visit the website at www.aha.org.

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