CRDAMC welcomes a new commander

By Brandy Gill, CRDAMC Public Affairs

FORT HOOD, Texas – Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center welcomed Col. Patricia Darnauer, the new hospital commander during an Assumption of Command ceremony June 28 at the main hospital entrance in front of the flag pole.

Colonel Darnauer, a native of Poughquag, N. Y., assumed command from Col. (Dr.) Roger A. Gallup, who has been the interim CRDAMC commander since Brig. Gen. Patrick Sargent relinquished command two months ago.

During the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Jimmie Keenan, commanding general of Southern Regional Medical Command and the reviewing official for the ceremony, thanked Gallup for stepping up and temporarily leading CRDAMC.

“You have done a phenomenal job,” she said. “You saw CRDAMC through the Joint Commission inspection during which CRDAMC was recognized as an outstanding facility. We appreciate your efforts.”

Darnauer also thanked Gallup for his leadership while commanding the hospital for the past two months.

“Your professionalism and calm demeanor created the environment that contributed significantly to CRDAMC’s recent successes,” she said.

Gallup will stay with the medical center and resume his position as the top doctor and Deputy Commander of Clinical Services.

Darnauer is no stranger to Fort Hood or the medical center since she served here earlier in her career as the Administrative Resident and Chief, Clinical Support Division.

“I first came to Darnall Army Community Hospital as the Army-Baylor resident. During my two years under Colonel, later Maj. Gen. Ken Farmer’s command, I cut my teeth on Army Medicine,” she said.

Darnauer has had many assignments since her first tour at CRDAMC including commanding the 115^th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) from Fort Polk, La. She deployed the CSH and served as the Task Force Medical-Southwest/West commander based at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan. While there, she led a multi-compo force arrayed across two-plus regional commands providing Role 1 through Role 3 care to U.S. and coalition forces as well as Afghan partners and critically injured Afghan civilians.

Most recently, she served as the Director for Human Resources, Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army Medical Command G-1.

While her career has included many interesting assignments Darnauer said she is pleased with her return to The Great Place.

“For me, my return to Fort Hood is one I greatly anticipated,” she said. “Two weeks ago, I returned to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center and witnessed this organization’s terrific performance as the Joint Commission inspected our health system. I could not have asked for a better welcome than to observe as the CRDAMC team excelled under the pressures of this external review.”

Now, as the CRDAMC commander, Darnauer says she is looking forward to helping the medical center’s Soldiers and staff move forward.

“My goal is to refine and hardwire the process (you’ve) already established so that in 2015 as we will transition to the new, state-of-the-art hospital rising across the parking lot, we continue providing great care to our Warriors, Veterans and Family members.”

Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center supports more than 50,000 active duty personnel and more than 125,000 family members and retirees within a 40-mile radius with a staff of over 4,000 Soldier, civilian and contract employees. Daily, the medical center averages about 5,180 outpatient appointments, 26 surgeries, eight births, 201 emergency room visits; and its pharmacies fill about 5,000 prescriptions.

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From left: Col. Patricia Darnauer, incoming CRDAMC commander, Maj. Gen. Jimmie Keenan, commanding general Southern Regional Medical Command, and Col. Roger Gallup, CRDAMC deputy commander of clinical services and interim commander, stand in formation during the Aussumption of Command ceremony held June 28 at the medical center (Photo by Kim Kamarripa, CRDAMC Public Affairs).

Colonel Patricia Darnauer, incoming CRDAMC commander, addresses the audience during her Assumption of Command ceremony as medical center Soldiers in formation look on (Photo by Kim Zamarripa, CRDAMC Public Affairs).