Director
Colonel Elba Villacorta
Colonel Elba M. Villacorta currently serves as the Director of Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center (ATAMMC), formerly Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. ATAMMC is a 120-bed, 1.3 million-square-foot military medical center that serves a regional population of 250,000 personnel with around 95,000 enrollees receiving inpatient and specialty care services supported by 55 specialty clinics, a Warrior Pavilion (for combat injured/wounded/ill), Inpatient Addictions Program, DiLorenzo Pentagon Health Clinic, and two satellite family health centers at Dumfries and Fairfax, Va.
Col. Villacorta most recently served as the Command Nurse Executive of Medical Readiness Command, Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Prior to this, she served as the Brigade Commander, Public Health Command, Pacific from 2020-2022, a geographically dispersed brigade with 26 locations across ten countries and four states throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, providing environmental, preventive medicine, and veterinary support.
Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Col. Villacorta immigrated to America when she was six years old, settling with her family in Los Angeles, California. She was commissioned in the Army Nurse Corps in July 1997 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Her civilian education includes a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Southern California in 1997 and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration with a minor in Education and Informatics from the University of Texas Health Science, San Antonio, in 2008. She is a board-certified Operating Room Nurse.
Colonel Villacorta’s military schools include the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Officer Basic and Advance Course, Perioperative Nursing Course, Combat Casualty Care Course, the Combined Arms & Services Staff School, Command & General Staff College, the Defense Strategy Course, the AMEDD Executive Skills Course, the Interagency Institute for Federal Health Leaders Course, the AMEDD Pre-Command Course, and the Joint Medical Executive Skills Institute Intermediate Executive Skills Course. Col. Villacorta is a 2017 graduate of the Army War College with a Master of Strategic Studies.
Colonel Villacorta served in various leadership and staff positions throughout her Army career, including U.S. Army Medical Activity (MEDDAC), Heidelberg, Germany, where she served as a Clinical Staff Nurse in a multi-service ward; Madigan Army Medical Center, Washington, serving as a Post-Surgical Staff Nurse and Operating Room Staff Nurse; Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas serving as an Operating Room Staff Nurse. She assumed command of Brooke Army Medical Center Delta Company in 2004. In 2008, she became the Nurse Officer in Charge of the Operating Room and Central Material Service at Munson Army Health Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; deployed with Task Force 115th to Camp Cropper, Iraq as the Officer in Charge of the Surgical Services from 2008-2009 then returned to Munson as the Chief of Perioperative Nursing Services. In 2010, she was selected to serve at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky as an Assignment Officer for over 1000 Lieutenants and later served as the Executive Officer for the 3rd Medical Recruiting Battalion. She commanded the McAfee U.S. Army Health Clinic, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, from 2014 to 2016, a Centralized Selection List (CSL) battalion command. Afterward, she served as an Arroyo Center Research Fellow in Santa Monica, California, with a follow-on utilization tour at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany as the Surgical Services Service Line (3SL) Director and later as the Deputy Commander for Inpatient Services.
Colonel Villacorta’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Commendation Award, Army Superior Unit Award, and German Proficiency Badge. She is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.