Former USNS Mercy Commander Takes Helm as DHN Pacific Rim Chief Medical Officer

Story by Regena Kowitz

Defense Health Agency

SAN DIEGO — Retired Navy Capt. John Rotruck, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, and a veteran with extensive operational experience and proven leadership in military medicine, has stepped into the role of chief medical officer for Defense Health Network Pacific Rim.

Rotruck, whose distinguished career spans operational medicine and leadership positions including command of the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), now oversees medical quality and safety across nine military treatment facilities (MTF) throughout the Pacific region.

“As chief medical officer, I have a responsibility for the overall quality and safety oversight of the care delivered in our network’s military treatment facilities,” said Rotruck. “I support and enable the CMOs at each MTF to be successful, in collaboration with our nursing and dental colleagues at both the network and MTF levels.”

Rear Adm. Guido Valdes, director of Defense Health Network Pacific Rim, welcomed Rotruck to the team.

“Captain Rotruck brings invaluable operational experience and a deep understanding of our Indo-Pacific mission,” Valdes said. “His leadership aboard the Mercy and his commitment to quality care make him the ideal person to ensure our facilities maintain the highest standards while supporting health care delivery and readiness across the region.”

Rotruck’s Navy journey began with the Health Professions Scholarship Program, which helped fund his medical education at the University of Miami. His family connection to naval service — his father is a retired Navy chief warrant officer — made the Navy a natural choice.

“Being commanding officer of the Mercy was the best job I’ve ever had in Navy Medicine,” Rotruck said. He commanded the floating hospital during Pacific Partnership 2018, where he worked directly with civilian and military medical leaders in Vietnam.

“It was clear we were building valuable relationships with a critically important partner nation in the Western Pacific, creating conditions that would lead to greater military-to-military engagement between our countries,” he reflected. “I felt like I was having a direct impact on furthering our national security and national defense strategies.”

This operational experience shapes Rotruck’s approach to his new position, where he emphasizes the importance of maintaining a ready medical force capable of forward deployment to support Indo-Pacific Command requirements.

“My background has shown me that in order to be mutually successful, the operational forces and the Defense Health Agency have to work in synergy,” Rotruck explained. “The primary missions of each are different but inter-related, and if one succeeds, the other will surely succeed as well.”

Rotruck recently participated in a specialized three-day training at DHA headquarters alongside other senior clinical leaders from across the military health system, providing valuable insights and connections.
Looking ahead, Rotruck sees embracing the high reliability principles of Ready Reliable Care as essential to delivering quality health care. He also emphasizes the role of telemedicine in overcoming geographical challenges.

“Telemedicine is one of the main ways we can overcome the tyranny of distance to our more remote sites in order to deliver the full spectrum of care to our beneficiaries,” Rotruck noted.
When asked about his motivation for serving in this role, Rotruck pointed to his connection with the region. “My last six years of active service were all located in and focused on the Indo-Pacific region — exactly the region that our network serves.”

As he tackles current health care challenges, including medical workforce recruitment and retention issues affecting both military and civilian sectors, Rotruck remains focused on his top priority.
“It all boils down to direct support of the MTFs to enable their ability to deliver safe, high-quality health care to all those we are privileged to serve,” he said.

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Defense Health Network Pacific Rim (DHN-PR) is one of the Defense Health Agency’s nine networks of hospitals and clinics that deliver high-quality health care to the more than 362,000 TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries we are privileged to serve. The DHN-PR headquarters is located in San Diego, supporting military treatment facilities along the U.S. West Coast and overseas in Guam and Japan.