WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Deborah A. Kretzschmar, M.D., has joined the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center as an assistant professor of internal medicine–gastroenterology.
A 28-year military veteran, Kretzschmar recently retired as commander of the Third Medical Group at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. As chief executive officer of the 81-bed inpatient medical facility, she was responsible for a $51 million operating budget and 1,000 employees. The facility handled 184,000 outpatient visits and 3,700 admissions annually. Her interests include detection and prevention of colon cancer, women’s gastrointestinal health and teaching.
She received her medical degree in 1982 from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (Bethesda, Md.) and completed training in internal medicine at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center (Travis AFB, Calif.). Kretzschmar obtained specialty training in gastroenterology at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center (Lackland AFB, Texas) and as a flight surgeon at Brooks AFB, Texas.
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Media Contacts: Jim Steele, jsteele@wfubmc.edu, Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.