Colonel J.K. Weaver, a final look back
Zach Rehnstrom
Winn ACH Public Affairs
6-30-2016
Three months ago, Colonel J.K. Weaver, the then commander of Tuttle Army Health Clinic, received the call that he would be taking command of Winn Army Community Hospital. For Weaver this meant going from a 120-member staff to being responsible for roughly 1,400 Soldiers and Civilians at Winn ACH.
“The transition from coming to Tuttle Army Health Clinic to Winn Army Community Hospital was a much taller mountain to climb. It was a definite noticeable change,” Medical Department Activity-Fort Stewart-Hunter Commander, Colonel J.K. Weaver said.
A challenge that the seasoned commander understood would take all of the expertise he gained during his previous commissions. Most of the time leaders who receive a command have a chance to get a lay of the land before they take command, but due to circumstances beyond his control, Weaver had to hit the ground running.
“Now there is no training that you can go to that prepares you for commanding a hospital,” Weaver said. “You get some sessions a couple of weeks where you get to talk metrics and what to expect. But that’s not really training. The training that occurs is really from your prior experiences. I’m fortunate enough that I have had a couple of commands so I understand what’s expected of a commander. What you have to figure out very quickly is what is different from my previous command versus the command that I’m in now. And how do I rapidly move myself in the direction to meet everyone’s expectations of what they want.”
For Weaver his priority was to meet and reintroduce himself to the team at Winn Army Community Hospital.
“The staff here have been great teammates in helping me to mitigate the learning curve while at the same time being able to be proficient at the job and get to work,” Weaver said.
In his three short months as commander of Winn Army Community Hospital, Weaver participated in three change of command ceremonies, a code white active shooter exercise, which tested the staff at Winn on the policies, procedures and protocols to follow in the event of an active shooter, but the Joint Commission Survey was perhaps the toughest hurdle during his command.
“The hardest thing that any hospital goes through is the Joint Commission Survey to continue their accreditation,” Weaver said. “Not for the Army and not for the department of defense, but as a hospital amongst the entire United States being compared with civilian sector private hospitals.”
For a week the Soldiers and Civilian staff at Winn Army Community Hospital had every element of their profession rigorously scrutinized. But, at the end of the Joint Commission Survey, Winn passed and received its continued accreditation.
“We expect that were doing it great, but they always find a few things that help us to improve and that’s a necessary cycle,” Weaver said, “as well that you’re constantly going through self-improvement, analysis. It’s just a continuous cycle to want to be a better healthcare organization. Fortunately for the entire system both here Richmond Hill, Tuttle, and Hawks TMC, everyone was very successful we had a good survey. We got our accreditation,”
With The Joint Commission Survey complete, Weaver and the Winn team continued to provide world class health care to their beneficiaries and continue help the Soldiers they serve stay mission ready.
“When you have a combat division like the 3rd infantry Division and any post like Fort Stewart, Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, any of your major installations that have FORSCOM [U.S. Army Forces Command] units it is critical,” Weaver said. “They absolutely expect that they have proximity healthcare at their fingertips in case something does happen on the installation.”
Weaver expressed his pride and gratitude to the Soldiers and Civilians that make up the Winn ACH staff for their continued support and guidance.
“The team ultimately is what makes the entire command successful,” Weaver said. “The commander is an important person because of decision making authority, but certainly cannot do it alone.”
Weaver is headed to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. where he will be working for the Department of Defense Joint Staff Surgeon.
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Outgoing MEDDAC-Fort Stewart Acting Commander, Col. J.K. Weaver, provides some advice to recently promoted Major James Hula during Hula’s promotion ceremony, July 1.