A traditional Navy Change of Command Ceremony was conducted Aug. 23, at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center base theater where the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital Commanding Officer, Capt. Nadjmeh M. Hariri, Dental Corps, United States Navy, was relieved by Capt. Lynelle M. Boamah, Medical Corps, United States Navy.

Capt. Hariri took command of the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital in May 2017. After relinquishing her command to the new commanding officer, Capt. Hariri will report for duty at the 2nd Dental Battalion, 22nd Dental Company, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Rear Adm. Timothy Weber, Medical Service Corps, officiated. Charles Boamah, Captain Boamah's husband had the honor of pinning his wife with the command pin. Master of Ceremony duties were performed by NHTP Executive Officer, Captain Romeo (Sonny) Tizon. Captain Boamah, in her remarks, invoked the memory of Congressional Medal recipient, Robert E. Bush, who she noted represented honor, courage and character, traits which she said she would strive to bring to her command at the Robert E. Bush Naval hospital. She noted, that despite the loss of an eye, and under enemy fire in WWII on Okinawa, Robert E. Bush continued to deliver plasma to his wounded U.S. Marine Corps officer patient, as he used the officer's pistol to fend off an enemy attack. Capt. Boahmah made eye contact with MCAGCC Commanding General, Brig. Gen. Roger Turner, who was in attendance, and said she would be guided by those principles in her support "of the most important Marine Corps base in the world."

For Capt. Boamah, this command assignment is especially meaningful. As a newly minted Navy lieutenant, Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms was her first duty assignment. She served as a pediatrician from 1998 to 2001.

Capt.  Lynelle Boamah is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1990. Upon graduation from college, she studied cytogenetics at the Johns Hopkins University. She was selected for a competitive Health Professions Scholarship and attended the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine (MD, 1995). She was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1995 and completed pediatric internship in the newly integrated National Capital Consortium Pediatric Residency Program from 1995-1996. She was selected for residency training in Pediatrics at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth where she was elected Chief of Pediatric Residents and graduated in 1998.

After residency completion, she was assigned to Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms and served as a general pediatrician from 1998 to 2001. She moved into a graduate medical education role during her next assignment at the Naval Medical Center San Diego pediatric residency program in 2001. She was then selected for full-time out-service fellowship training in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital from 2004 to 2007. During fellowship training, she earned a Master’s degree in Medical Education and Curriculum Development (MEd, 2008) from the University of Cincinnati, graduating magna cum laude.

Upon completion of fellowship, she returned to Naval Medical Center San Diego in 2007 and established a robust practice of pediatric gastroenterology. She served as associate pediatric residency program director from 2008-2011 and was selected as residency program director in 2011. She served in this role until 2016, overseeing the administrative requirements for graduate medical education in pediatrics and contributing to Navy Medicine’s readiness mission. During this time, she deployed as an individual augmentee to Palawan, Philippines in support of Balikatan 2012 Joint Humanitarian Assistance Mission. She served as the Director for Medical Services, Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T-AH 19) from 2015-2017, contributing to Navy Medicine’s mission to support the fleet and the warfighter.

She is the recipient of several awards and medals to include, the Executive Council of the Medical Staff Master Clinician award, the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medals and the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal in addition to one unit medal. She holds an academic appointment of Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University.

She has given both national and international presentations on evaluating and teaching medical trainees. She was selected to attend the MedXellence course for healthcare executives and completed a one-year program in healthcare leadership at the University of San Diego Health Leadership Academy. She is board-certified in general pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology and holds active memberships in the American Academy of Pediatrics Uniformed Services section and the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. She completed a tour as Executive Officer, Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T- AH 19) from 2017-2019, completing two Pacific Partnership deployments and Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2018. Captain Boamah will be the thirteenth commanding officer at Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms. She will lead the transition of Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital from the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to the control of The Defense Health Agency effective October, 2019.

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