JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2016) – Cmdr. Kristian Sanchack, Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville family medicine residency program director, checks a patient’s ear for possible inflammation. The Jacksonville Business Journal honored Sanchack as a 2016 Health Care Hero. Health Care Heroes have improved the quality of health care, saved lives, made discoveries, and championed the next generation of health care providers. (U.S. Navy photo by Jacob Sippel, Naval Hospital Jacksonville Public Affairs/Released).
Story by Yan Kennon
Naval Hospital Jacksonville
The Jacksonville Business Journal honored two Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville physicians, Capt. Jesse Geibe and Cmdr. Kristian Sanchack, as 2016 Health Care Heroes.
“I’m extremely proud of our two physicians on their selection as Health Care Heroes,” said Capt. David Collins, NH Jacksonville commanding officer. “To be included in this prestigious group is a tribute to both Capt. Geibe and Cmdr. Sanchack.”
Health care is one of Jacksonville’s largest industries, and each year the Jacksonville Business Journal selects heroes who have improved the quality of health care, saved lives, made discoveries, and championed the next generation of health care providers.
Geibe, NH Jacksonville director for public health, has worked to stop Ebola in West Africa and cholera in Haiti. He was the Department of Defense liaison at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for four years; and continues to serve on CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, setting U.S. immunization recommendations. He started out as a dive medicine physician, serving with Navy SEAL teams. He currently oversees multiple departments that impact the health of all personnel at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and other bases. This year he helped bring to fruition a weekly farmer’s market (on-base) to support good nutrition for military service members and their families.
Sanchack, NH Jacksonville family medicine residency program director, cares for patients from the beginning to the end of life. He has deployed with Marines to a shock-trauma platoon in Iraq. As a medical acupuncturist, he promotes the connection between mind, body and spirit; and its role in health. He works with behavioral health specialists in Family Medicine, to help patients make better choices. Sanchack oversees 43 family medicine residents and their clinical research. He integrated the residency program into the hospital’s pilot of value-based care and is piloting a four-year family medicine residency program. Sanchack also oversaw the first Clinical Learning Environment Review in Jacksonville by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Jacksonville Business Journal recognized 24 Health Care Heroes in the region, from organizations such as Brooks Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, NH Jacksonville, St. Vincent’s Healthcare, and UF Health.
NH Jacksonville’s priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation’s heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy’s third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population (163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen, and their families), about 85,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities. To find out more or download the command’s mobile app, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.