Turns out, Madigan Army Medical Center's new leader is actually a Pacific Northwest veteran and an experienced Madigan staffer.

"I've been lucky enough to be here twice before, so it was exciting when I learned the command would be here," said Col. Ramona Fiorey, who had previously spent years working at Madigan, first as a clinical head nurse for the mother/baby and gynecological surgery unit and later the chief of maternal child nursing. Fiorey and her husband, Peter, have one daughter, 24, who just completed her graduate studies.

While she hadn't requested to return to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fiorey was pleasantly surprised.

"The Army can be like that Forrest Gump quote about never knowing what you're going to get and I just think I have gotten a very good box of chocolates," she joked.

Friday, Aug. 9, Fiorey became the 38th commander of Madigan when she was officially welcomed during a change of command ceremony that marked the departure of Col. Dallas Homas, who had been in command since 2011. Fiorey, who was previously the chief of staff for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is slated to serve at the helm of the premiere Army medical center for the next two years.

"We are thrilled to have you back at Madigan and JBLM," said Maj. Gen. Richard Thomas, Western Regional Medical Command commanding general, who served as reviewing officer for the ceremony. "Continue to lead this organization well as we prepare for the next rendezvous with destiny."

"Really, it was like coming home and the first time I came back in the hospital it was like I hadn't been away for very long," she said. "People are in good spirits and absolutely committed to taking care of the members of the installation."

As one of only three designated level-two trauma centers in the U.S. Army Medical Command, Madigan has almost 5,000 employees and schedules more than one million outpatient visits annually.

"I think the hospital is in a great position and under Col. Homas' command they made a lot of changes to become more efficient and make access to patient care easier, which I want to uphold," she stated.

She went on to explain that one of her first actions will be to continue working on furthering soldier-centered care, which, like the patient-centered care model that military dependents have been exposed to, allows the servicemember to have access to all of the components of care in one place. In other words, access to a provider, a nurse, physical and occupational therapy, behavioral health and even a limited lab and pharmacy without having to visit 10 different locations or separate providers.

"Soldier-centered care is not widespread throughout Army Medicine (AMEDD) yet, but, at JBLM, because the senior leadership really believes in it, it is already a priority," she said.

"Madigan has a stellar reputation, but I really think we have the ability to be the best in the DoD, which is pretty lofty, but I think we can achieve it," she remarked. "I want us to show the value that we bring to the DoD and to the AMEDD by becoming even more efficient and streamlined in processes, while always maintaining the quality of care."

"The biggest thing I want to convey is how dedicated we are to providing high quality patient care to our families and retirees," Fiorey concluded. "That is at the center of all of our decisions."