BACH Pays Tribute to Doctors in Honor of Doctor’s Day

Courtesy Story

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

Fort Campbell, KY— On March 28, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital’s newest and longest-practicing doctor cut into a cake celebrating National Doctors Day.

Brig. Gen. Deydre Teyhen, Director of the Defense Health Network National Capital Region, and Col. Sam Preston, BACH Commander, addressed the gathered staff.

“My number one priority is to bring the joy and soul back to medicine, and number two is building trust with those who serve,” Teyhen said.

She encourages all the doctors to think about what brought them into medicine and how each person can further pursue why. For her part, Teyhen assures everyone to raise issues with leadership that prevent success, and to allow them to work on removing the barriers.

“It’s an honor to be a physician and serve the best patients in the world, which are Soldiers, their families, and the community,” Preston said.

“Thank you to the doctors who work with us at BACH. You walk with your supported commands through uncertain and dynamic landscapes and run to your patients wherever the mission or life leads you. Simply put, you save lives.”

Dr. Robert Marx is one of those doctors. He has dedicated over 40 years of his life to Army Medicine, both as a Soldier and a civilian.

“It gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I enjoy making patients’ lives better,” Marx said.

Capt. Philip Lettieri is a general surgeon at BACH and its newest doctor. He echoes Col. Preston’s remarks. “It’s a privilege to take care of Soldiers. I work with an experienced team of people, and it’s always a good time.”

National Doctors Day originated in 1933 in Winder, Georgia. by Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a family medicine physician, Dr. Charles B. Almond. The March 30 date of the celebration is chosen in honor of the first use of anesthesia during surgery in 1842 by physician Dr. Crawford Long, a well-known doctor from Jefferson, Georgia.

On March 30, 1958, Congress adopted a resolution commemorating March 30 as National Doctors Day; in 1990, President George H.W. Bush designated National Doctors Day an official day of recognition by the U.S. government.

Fort Campbell physicians contribute to the over 25,000 active-duty medical, surgical, behavioral health, and readiness appointments every month.