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Union Hospital’s new president comes from the Pentagon

| March 16, 2022
Col. Thomas J. Rogers, M.D.

DOVER (WJER) (March 16, 2022) – Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital has appointed a new president who comes to Tuscarawas County from the Pentagon. Col. Thomas Rogers most recently served as the director of both the DiLorenzo Pentagon Health Clinic and the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital branch clinics in Washington, D.C.

Union Hospital Spokesman Darrin Lautenschleger says Rogers oversaw more than 700 employees who treated active-duty service members, retirees and family members.

“He was responsible for developing the COVID-19 testing and vaccination plan for the Pentagon as well as serving as principal medical advisor for the Pentagon Governance Counsel.”

Rogers grew up in Stark County. He lived in North Canton, graduated from Canton Central Catholic High School and still has family in the area.

Rogers will start as the hospital’s new president later this summer.

Bruce James retired as the hospital’s president at the end of last year.

Listen to WJER this week for our interview with Dr. Rogers.

Press release from Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital

Col. Thomas J. Rogers, M.D., has been appointed as the new president of Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital, effective later this summer.

Dr. Rogers, who spent much of his childhood in Stark County, joins Union Hospital from the DiLorenzo Pentagon Health Clinic and the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Branch Clinics in Washington, D.C., where he has served as director of both facilities since 2017. In his position, Dr. Rogers oversees two government-owned and contractor-operated branch health clinics with more than 700 employees and that provide world-class medical service to the nation’s wounded, active-duty service members, retirees and family members.

Dr. Rogers also serves as the principal medical advisor for the Pentagon Governance Council and developed a COVID-19 testing and vaccination plan for the Pentagon.

“I am very pleased to be joining the accomplished caregiver team at Union Hospital,” said Dr. Rogers. “We will work together to provide access to high-quality, world-class Cleveland Clinic care right here in the Tuscarawas Valley.”

Dr. Rogers has had an extensive medical career around the United States (and an international post) in the military, earning numerous achievements and recognition along the way. He will take over leadership at Union Hospital after retiring from active military service.

He has served in leadership positions at the following:

  • Assistant Chief of Staff, Clinical Operations/Chief Medical Officer, at Pacific Regional Medical Command in Honolulu, Hawaii, covering from the West Coast to Japan
  • Chief Executive Officer at Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, Colo.
  • Task Force Surgeon, U.S. Special Operation Command in Balad, Iraq
  • Division Surgeon and Task Force Lightning Surgeon, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and serving Tikrit, Iraq
  • Chief, Department of Primary Care, Reynolds Army Community Hospital, Fort Sill, Okla., where he also served a separate position as a staff physician
  • Clinic Director and Family Medicine Residency Staff Physician, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

Dr. Rogers has earned a Bronze Star Medal, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and other awards and recognition throughout his career.

“We are extremely honored to welcome Dr. Rogers to Cleveland Clinic and Union Hospital,” said Donald Malone Jr., M.D., president of the Cleveland Clinic Ohio Hospitals and Family Health Centers. “His clinical experience, extensive military leadership positions and Ohio roots will provide an outstanding background to lead our caregivers to continue to provide the very best care to our patients at Union Hospital.”

Dr. Rogers is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and licensed to practice in the state of Ohio. He earned his medical degree from Wright State University School of Medicine, his bachelor’s degree in biology from John Carroll University and graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He served a family medicine residency and a family medicine internship, both at DeWitt Army Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va.

Dr. Rogers was commissioned as a Captain in the Medical Corps in 1993, entering the Army through the Health Professions Scholarship Program and Army ROTC.

Dr. Rogers moved with his family to North Canton in Stark County as a child, where he later graduated from Canton Central Catholic High School. He and his wife Christy have six children and three grandchildren. Dr. Rogers is the youngest of 10 children and his mother Vivian, who still resides in Stark County, will celebrate her 90th birthday this month. His father, the late John C. Rogers, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Canton McKinley High School, where he was an All-Ohio quarterback in football.

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