VSFB Medical Professional Selected as AMSUS Innovator of the Year

Story by Senior Airman Tiarra Sibley

Space Launch Delta 30

U.S. Air Force Maj. Stephen Emmerthal, 30th Medical Group diagnostics and therapeutics flight commander, was awarded the 2024 Association of Military Surgeons of the United States Premiere Innovation Award.

The innovation award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to military or federal medicine by developing and/or implementing novel approaches to overcome complex and
persistent challenges in health care delivery and/or readiness. Emmerthal was one of 15 award winners, who were selected from more than 400 nomination packages.

Emmerthal’s innovative mindset and direction increased collaboration and advancements in efficiency across government agencies.

“I think it starts with great leadership and an amazing team,” said Emmerthal. “Then you add an opportunity masquerading as a catastrophe and you have everything you need to break glass ceilings.”

When catastrophe struck, Emmerthal led his team to successfully collaborate with Travis Air Force Base at short notice during an unexpected flood in the Vandenberg SFB pharmacy.

“Our first catastrophic opportunity was the great pharmacy flood we nicknamed ‘Pharmaggedon.’ We leveraged the new Electronic-Health Record to send our prescriptions to Travis Air Force Base, where they were filled and next-day mailed back to Vandenberg,” said Emmerthal.
“With Travis’ help and one of our techs willing to deploy there with 2 hours’ notice, we restored 95% of pharmacy services in 24 hours. I cannot put in words how proud I was that our team was on board with trying something that had never been done in the Air Force.”

Emmerthal’s innovative solution is now used as the model for pharmacy disaster response at 76 Military Treatment Facilities on five continents.

In addition to revolutionizing collaborative pharmacy support, Emmerthal pioneered COVID-19 at home testing for the Department of Defense.

When the Defense Health Agency (DHA) first offered mass shipments of at-home tests, he quickly devised a distribution plan through the pharmacy team to include tracking, testing, and follow-up. He published local guidance and launched his plan, expediting the delivery of 5.6 thousand tests to Airmen, Guardians, and space launch partners responsible for the U.S. Space Force’s West Coast Spaceport and Test Range.

His plan was briefed at the White House as a model for distribution at federal facilities.

Additionally, Emmerthal’s implementation of this early warning tool led to lower transmission rates than community averages and to the safeguarding of 14 thousand beneficiaries.

“Maj. Emmerthal’s superior and sustained efforts in delivering, optimizing, and innovating health care have not only revolutionized care at Vandenberg, but have consistently met the challenges set out by the DoD to increase readiness for the future fight while having notable applications in federal disaster response roles,” said Lt. Col. Tonya Barry, 30th Healthcare Operations Squadron commander. “His dedication to continuous process improvement and innovation are unrivaled and he is truly an asset to our healthcare team here at Vandenberg.”