Leadership of National Intrepid Center of Excellence changes hands

Story by Bernard Little

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

The National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) bid fair winds and following seas to U.S. Navy Capt. (Dr.) Carlos Williams and welcomed aboard Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Shannon Ford as NICoE’s director during a farewell ceremony on July 30 at NICoE, located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC).

Williams, who had served as the NICoE’s director since 2019, leaves for an assignment at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Ford comes to NICoE after serving as the program director for the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship and as the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry consultant to the Army Surgeon General.

“Thank you [Captain Williams] for the amazing work you have done during the last four years in leading the NICoE team,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Juan Rosario, WRNMMC chief of staff. He explained that NICoE’s skilled and diverse staff is tasked with the diagnosis and treatment of service members who exhibit the many symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress (PTS), and other behavioral health challenges. NICoE first opened its doors on June 25, 2010. In in 2015, it became a directorate of WRNMMC.

Rosario added that NICoE serves as the headquarters of the Defense Intrepid Network for TBI and Brain Health (Defense Intrepid Network), which is based on the holistic, patient-centered interdisciplinary model of care. In addition to the NICoE, the Defense Intrepid Network includes 10 Intrepid Spirit Centers throughout the continental United States and two TBI and Brain Health Clinics outside the continental United States.

“Oftentimes, when [patients] come to Walter Reed, there are some injuries you can clearly see. TBI is one of those you can’t really pinpoint but it affects thousands of our service members,” Rosario shared. “The NICoE creates a safe place where our service members can get the care, treatment and help they need. As a leader, it’s encouraging to know that such a place as this exist,” he added.

As NICoE’s director, Williams was advocate for patients, testifying before Congress and sharing the importance of NICoE’s mission in taking care of Military Health System beneficiaries not just at Walter Reed and in the National Capital Region but also around the world, Rosario added.

The 31st Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, retired Gen. Richard Cody, also spoke at the ceremony and shared similar sentiments. “I come here a lot and every time I like to sit and talk with the service men and women who use this place, whether they’re just starting [the Intensive Outpatient Program] or it’s their last couple of days here. Many times, they’ll have their families with them. For those of you who work at NICoE, you’re changing people’s lives. [NICoE] brings hope to people.”

David Winters, president of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to support NICoE and the Spirit Centers. He emphasized that these centers are “gifts to the American people [from the American people].” He added that seeing service members and their families receive the care they deserve brings people together. “Captain Williams has carried forward what this center is about and that’s shown by the great care provided [at NICoE] and the success in treatment achieved here.”

Williams thanked those with whom he served at NICoE. He shared that the brain and PTS care model provided at NICoE should be standardized and available to others. “This model of care is unique,” said Williams.
He also shared his passion for this care is also personal. “My sister passed away and I saw a health care system not be able to care for her. A large part of that was related to brain injury, and in her case, it was from chemo. I saw the challenges she faced with not having the same type of care we provide here concerning cognitive rehabilitation. That just doesn’t exist on the outside to this degree. So, my goal as director and the mission for this organization for the last four years have been to push us to the highest levels we could possibly attain. I wanted to make sure Congress understood, and our leadership understood, and that the general population understood…that this needs to be a reimbursable model of care. My goal was to expand what we do here beyond TBI to other injuries and challenges.”

Williams thanked those who have been “in the trenches” with him. “I live my life totally in the red, and that means in debt to each of you for everything you have done, and I ask that you continue to push this forward and take it to the next level.”

As NICoE’s new director, Ford brings a wealth of experience and a unique set of qualifications to her new role. Her familiarity with Walter Reed dates back to her residency and fellowship post-graduate training. She’s a graduate from the University of Delaware and was commissioned as a military intelligence officer. Her first duty station was in Fort Liberty (previously Fort Bragg), North Carolina, where she was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. She deployed twice, first as a battalion intelligence officer with the 307th Logistics Task Force in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2003, and then as a platoon leader with the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Balad, Iraq, in 2004.

Ford’s time working with the medical unit in Kandahar led her to attend the Uniformed Services University, co-located with Walter Reed on Naval Support Activity Bethesda, where she received her medical degree in 2009. She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry and a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the co-chair of the Military and Veterans Special Interest Group in the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

“I am genuinely humbled by this opportunity to take on the work at NICoE,” said Ford. She added that NICoE has “always held a special place” for her because much of her post-graduate training was done with many outpatient TBI service members receiving care at Walter Reed. “To be able to work and serve with everyone here on this tremendous mission is [beyond] words,” she said.