Safety
9 USU Faculty Earn Teaching and Research Honors; Supplement Safety Summit Draws More Than 270
BLUF – Nine Uniformed Services University faculty members received awards recognizing excellence in teaching, research and medical education, including Navy Lt. Cmdr. Laura Barrett, who earned the Navy Chapter of the American College of Physicians Staff Teacher of the Year Award, and Dr. Elexis McBee, who received its Master Teacher Award. The university also hosted its fourth annual Operation Supplement Safety Summit, bringing together more than 270 military, medical and research professionals to address emerging concerns involving dietary supplements, peptides and GLP-1 medications, highlighting important considerations for Navy Medicine in patient safety, clinical education and force readiness.
https://news.usuhs.edu/2026/10/9-usu-faculty-earn-teaching-and.html
Pentagon weighs outsourcing surgical tool sterilization after years of problems
BLUF – The Defense Health Agency is considering outsourcing surgical instrument sterilization at 21 military hospitals following years of staffing shortages, equipment failures and contaminated instruments that disrupted surgeries, including nearly 270 procedures affected by a two-week shutdown at Walter Reed in 2025. For Navy Medicine, the proposal could affect major naval medical centers in Portsmouth, San Diego and Camp Lejeune, highlighting the importance of reliable sterile processing to patient safety, surgical capacity, graduate medical education and clinical readiness, although no outsourcing decision has been made.
A Message from Acting DHA Director, Dr. David Smith: DHA’s Spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grades Are In!
Teammates,
The Defense Health Agency continues to partner with the Leapfrog Group – one of many avenues in which we transparently share our performance and compare ourselves to other hospitals and health systems across the country.
On May 1st, Leapfrog released their Spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grades. These grades are based on national standards for hospital safety and highlight risks that patients may face in a health care setting, including preventable medical errors and infections.
We show excellent performance measured against our peers, and against ourselves over time. In the Spring 2025 ratings, 32% of participating hospitals in the United States received the highest grade. Of the eligible military hospitals participating in the grading assessment, 73% received an “A” grade. And this 73% mark is up from 43% of our facilities receiving an “A” in Spring 2024.
The 16 military hospitals that received an “A” grade in Spring 2025 are:
· 81st Medical Group, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi
· 673d Medical Group, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
· Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
· Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
· Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas
· Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Cavazos, Texas
· Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Eisenhower, Georgia
· Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, Colorado
· Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
· Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, Georgia
· Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
· Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia
· Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California
· Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
· William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, Texas
· U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, Guam
Our published article is available on dha.mil at: https://dha.mil/News/2025/05/01/16/50/Sixteen-Military-Hospitals-Receive-Leapfrogs-Highest-Safety-Grade.
As in the past, there are some participating MTFs who would have received an “A” grade, but the volume of care didn’t allow them to be publicly reported due to the minimum reporting requirements. Those hospitals include:
- Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart, Georgia
- U.S. Navy Hospital Rota, Spain
- Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, Fort Johnson, Louisiana
- 374th Medical Group, Yokota Air Base, Japan
- General L. Wood Army Community Hospital, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
- Irwin Army Community Hospital, Fort Irwin, California
- U.S. Naval Hospital Naples, Italy
- 88th Medical Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
- Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital, Korea
- U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella, Italy
There is a lot of effort at the MTF, DHN, and DHA Headquarters level to collect, validate and report this data – but it’s worth it. To our medical teams, to our leaders in the Department, and most of all – to our patients.
Thank you all for your commitment to high quality and safe care in the Military Health System…it shows every day!
V/R, Dave
Dr. David Smith, M.D.
Acting Director, Defense Health Agency