JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Dr. Stephen Ferrara, acting assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs, paid a visit to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson hospital to see firsthand the delivery of healthcare services to service members, veterans, and their families across JBER, Alaska, on July 16, 2025.
The JBER hospital is a Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs joint venture hospital led by the 673d Medical Group. The visit, part of Ferrara’s broader effort to engage directly with frontline military and civilian medical teams, marked a significant opportunity to connect senior leadership — based in the Pentagon and more than 4,000 miles away from JBER — with operational health care.
Ferrara said this type of visit allows him to see what’s happening on the ground. It also allows him to hear directly from the staff doing the work — what’s working, what’s challenging — so he can better support them at the senior leadership level.
“I try to get out to the field as much as I can because having a boot on the ground, a firsthand look is the best way to understand what happens across the Military Health System,” Ferrara said. “We’re a very large and diverse healthcare system … the mission and geography can be unique. I talk to people doing the work and I get to understand what it is about both the operational unit they are supporting and how they integrate within the community.”
He also stressed his three priorities, or the three “Ss” —support, sustain, and strengthen.
“We support the war fighter — that’s our number one priority,” Ferrara said, “We’re the only healthcare system in America that goes to war, so we must be ready to do that. We must ensure our warfighters are ready to fight tonight and our medical professionals are prepared to follow them into battle and deliver world-class care. Sustain–we must maintain and build on our skills using high-volume, high-complexity clinical material and exposure to keep our teams functioning at their best. Military medicine has a proud legacy and it’s our duty to carry that forward — whether it’s for two years or 25. And strengthen — we must continuously replenish our force with talented medical professionals, from enlisted to officers, to ensure we can carry out the mission now and into the future.”
Throughout the day, Ferrara toured the facility, met with clinical staff and support teams, and received in-depth briefings on the group’s readiness, patient care programs, and quality-improvement initiatives. He also engaged in focused discussions on collaborative-care models, innovations in integrated military-civilian health care, and support for Alaska communities.
“First of all, we must be laser-focused on our readiness mission,” Ferrara said. “When a service member deploys from JBER, they need full confidence that their family will be taken care of while they are executing their combat mission — because that peace of mind directly impacts mission success. You all provide a critical function and service in support of the warfighter. Don’t ever forget that.”
Ferrara, who has experience in both military and civilian healthcare systems, understands firsthand the high demands and the need to work long hours. He emphasized the importance of not only maintaining clinical excellence, but also investing in the people behind the mission. One of the initiatives they are currently working on is electronic health records.
“Now that MHS GENESIS is completely rolled out, we’re hoping to launch within the next year an AI program called Ambient Listening,” the U.S. Navy veteran said. “This will restore the patient and physician relationship. The staff can talk to the patient like in the old days, and the AI will listen and generate notes, so the provider does not have to sit there and type notes … we are trying to reduce as much administrative burden as possible.”
The 673d Medical Group supports more than 150,000 TRICARE and VA beneficiaries throughout Alaska. Ferrara commended the team’s commitment to innovation, readiness, and patient-centered care in one of the most geographically challenging environments in the Military Health System.
“The partnership [673d MDG] with the VA is really best in class, one of the best collaborative practices,” Ferrara commended. “I did get a much better understanding of how they work with civilian partners here, both in Anchorage, across Alaska, and how they cover this vast territory, twice the size of Texas, with only 10 hospitals in the entire state. You have to be matrixed to be able to provide care across this vast area.”
To understand the scope, he mentioned the hospital can easily move patients to the next level of higher care; those partnerships are a force multiplier enhanced by having strong DOD, VA, and civilian partnerships.
What stood out to him most? He paused and smiled. “It’s their spirit. Their professionalism. Their ability to support both readiness and humanity.”
His message to the clinical staff was simple.
“Bravo Zulu,” he said. “That’s Navy talk for ‘well done.’ And they deserve it.”