WarDocs Podcast – CAPT Melissa Austin, MD: From Warship to Walter Reed
BLUF – In a WarDocs podcast interview, Navy Capt. Melissa Austin, former director of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, describes her unconventional career from surface warfare officer to Navy physician and hospital executive, highlighting efforts to restore Walter Reed’s clinical capacity by expanding available beds from approximately 100 to 220, increasing operational operating rooms from eight to 14, and regaining Level II trauma center status. For Navy Medicine, her leadership demonstrates how increasing patient volume, strengthening civilian healthcare partnerships and sustaining clinical proficiency can improve medical readiness, as illustrated by Walter Reed’s successful reception of its largest group of combat casualties in more than a decade.
https://www.wardocspodcast.com/post/capt-melissa-austin-md-from-warship-to-walter-reed