Florida Veteran Health Heroes

Dr. John H. Armstrong is a leader in public health and a veteran of the United States Army. He is an Associate Pro- fessor of Surgery at the Uni- versity of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services Uni- versity of the Health Sciences, and a member of the US De- fense Health Board Subcommittee on Trauma and In- jury Care. He also served as State Surgeon General and Secretary of the Florida Department of Health. Dr. Armstrong is a graduate of Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the US Army Command and General Staff College. He per- formed his surgical residency at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI, his trauma/surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and his Master Educators in Medical Educa- tion Fellowship at the University of Florida. He is twice recertified by the American Board of Surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Armstrong retired as a Colonel in the US Army Medical Corps in 2005. His military assignments includ- ed DeWitt Army Community Hospital, Ft. Belvoir, VA; Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC; and Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX. His final assignment was Director, US Army Trau- ma Training Center (ATTC), in association with the Ryder Trauma Center, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL. He served as Chair of the Army (State) ACS Committee on Trauma (COT) and provided oversight of the largest geographic region with the highest number of annual Advanced Trauma Life Support courses in the program. He served as program director for the only Surgical Crit- ical Care Fellowship in the Department of Defense, and as Senior Visiting Trauma Surgeon at Landstuhl, Germa- ny, in December 2011. In 2012, Dr. Armstrong was appointed State Surgeon General and Secretary of the Florida Department of Health. With his leadership, Florida achieved the low- est infant mortality rate in its history, remained above the national average in life expectancy, and moved from 24th to 12th in healthy weight. During Dr. Armstrong’s tenure the Department also received first-in-the-nation national accreditation as an integrated department of health by the Public Health Accreditation Board. Dr. Armstrong’s awards and recognitions include the Army Surgeon General’s Physician Recognition Award (top Medical Corps Lieutenant Colonel), the Army Sur- geon General’s A-designator for General Surgery, the US Army Meritorious Service Medal, 4th Oak Leaf Clus- ter, the US Army Commendation Medal, 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster, the US Navy Commendation Medal, the 2011 Exemplary Teacher Award at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and the 2016 Florida Medical As- sociation Distinguished Service Award. John H. Armstrong, MD, FACS 3 Florida Veteran Health Heroes