Thursday, October 02, 2008

DeWitt’s new commander looking toward the future

Photo by Marny Malin
Col. Charles “Chuck” Callahan examines a patient. Callahan assumed command of DeWitt Army Community Hospital and the DeWitt Health Care Network about two months ago.

About two months after assuming command of DeWitt Army Community Hospital and the DeWitt Health Care Network, Col. Charles “Chuck” Callahan said he is certain of one thing ... “I’m more convinced than ever that my fellow commanders look at me with envy.”

Adopting an organization known and respected across the Army Medical Department, supporting the Joint Task Force in developing a new $747 million, state-of-the-art community hospital and being a part of Fort Belvoir’s transformation as part of the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 are a few reasons other leaders would love to command here, Callahan said. 

“I can’t imagine a better position to be in,” said the 29-year veteran who was previously deputy commander for clinical services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “Everywhere I go throughout the hospital and the installation, everyone is centrally focused on a single theme - taking care of Soldiers and their families.”
According to the commander, who worked with many Soldiers while at Walter Reed and spent two weeks as an inpatient after being treated for lymphoma, taking care of Soldiers and their families is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.

“One of the great things about working in this field is being involved with taking care of warriors and getting to know them and their families. It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ll ever do in my life,” he said.

Though a pediatrician by trade, the colonel said he fell in love with taking care of Soldiers while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as chief of professional services for the 8th Medical Brigade. 

“I was involved with their care every day, and I came back from that wanting to take care of Soldiers,” he said. “That’s a big change for someone who has been a pediatrician his whole life.”

The father of seven holds a professorship in pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences and a clinical professorship in pediatrics at the John Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. He also served as pediatric consultant to the Army Surgeon General.

Playing a vital role in his development as commander, the experiences Callahan gained in both the academic and command administrative tracks of medical care
continue driving him as he carries on the focus of taking care of Soldiers and their families.

“We are on the threshold of transforming to the Department of Defense’s premiere flagship community hospital, with hopes of developing new clinical processes and building on our culture of excellence,” Callahan said of the new, 1.2 million-square-foot facility crews are constructing.

“As far as I’m concerned, we have the perfect opportunity to look at a system and figure out a better way to do business, in hopes of making care more
accessible, convenient and of better quality than it was yesterday,” Callahan said.

It’s critical the new Fort Belvoir community hospital continue DeWitt’s focus on patient convenience in a culture of excellence because “healthcare should not be an additional burden to our patients,” he said.

“The single most important thing we’ll take with us to the new hospital is continued development of our culture of excellence,” he said. “The idea is that, over the next two years, we’re going to work hard transforming access, convenience and our already extraordinary quality of care. We will discover together how close to perfect our healthcare delivery can be.”