NMCSD’s Directorate for Public Health Receives Navy SG’s “Blue H” Award

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Woitzel

Naval Medical Center San Diego

Naval Medical Center San Diego’s Directorate for Public Health celebrates receiving the Navy Surgeon General’s Health Promotion and Wellness Award during morning quarters, July 26, 2024.

The Health Promotion and Wellness Award is an annual award sponsored by the Navy Surgeon General and is managed by the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center.

“On behalf of the command, my directorate, DPH, and my department, Health and Wellness, it is an honor to accept this award,” said Preston Thrift, a public health educator for NMCSD’s Health and Wellness Department. “Everybody had to put in a great deal of work for this to be carried out.”

This award encourages and rewards the promotion of health in Navy and Marine Corps organizations.

“We’re reaching out not just to our active duty, but to dependents and retirees,” said Thrift. “This is a year’s worth of work saying that we achieved all the things that the Surgeon General says it takes to maintain a healthy population for service members and beneficiaries.”

There are three versions of the award, with the “Medical” version recognizing excellence in clinical primary prevention, community health promotion and medical staff health in Navy medical organizations.

The mission of NMCSD is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality health care services, and shape the future of military medicine through education, training, and research. NMCSD employs more than 5,000 active-duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in southern California to provide patients with world-class care. Anchored in Excellence, Committed to Health! (U.S. Navy story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Woitzel)