Capt. Christopher M. Culp will hand over responsibilities as commanding officer of Naval Hospital Bremerton to Capt. Christopher S. Quarles, at 1 p.m. on Aug.6.
Culp will embark for his upcoming duty assignment as Medical Inspector General Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
During Culp’s two-year tenure as NHB’s commanding officer, staff members continued to establish a standard of excellence demonstrated by numerous awards and accolades such as completing a successful Joint Commission and Medical Inspection General accreditation survey and inspection process earlier this year, as well as being recognized for the Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC).
For Quarles, being appointed the new commanding officer brings him back to NHB for the third time. The Kansas City native completed his internship in Family Medicine at NHB after receiving his Medical Degree in 1992 from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Medicine where he was commissioned a lieutenant.
After his initial NHB stint, he served as a general medical officer aboard fast combat support ship USS Sacramento (AOE 1), earning his Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer qualification.
He then returned to Naval Hospital Bremerton and completed his Family Medicine Residency in 1997. His first two tours as a family physician were at Naval Branch Medical Clinic, La Maddalena, Italy, and Naval Health Care Clinic New England, at Newport, Rhode Island. Afterwards, he served as the senior medical officer, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), in Yokosuka Japan.
Subsequently, he served as the director of medical services at US Naval Hospital Rota, Spain, and then Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Florida.
During his Jacksonville tour, he was an Individual Augmentee (IA) and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom where he served as medical director for Afghan National Police Embedded Training Team as part of the NATO Training Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan.
In July 2011, he reported to Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla. as the Executive Officer.
During a typical day at Naval Hospital Bremerton and the Branch Health Clinics of Bangor, Everett and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, there are approximately 1,255 medical outpatient visits, 295 dental outpatient visits, 1,850 prescriptions processed, nine surgery cases, 2 babies delivered, and an average daily census of 17 patients.
The staff consists of over 1,400 dedicated military, civilian, contract and American Red Cross volunteer personnel, including active duty medical staff forward deployed in support of various overseas commitments such as Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and with Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, as well as Operation Pacific Partnership 2013.
