Commanding Officer: Captain Timothy Quast

Captain Tim Quast is a third generation Naval Officer who graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. He began his career as a Surface Warfare officer serving aboard USS COWPENS (CG-63) in San Diego and USS MOBILE BAY (CG-53) in Yokosuka, Japan. He attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) School of Medicine from 1998-2002. At USUHS he served as the Academic Representative and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Captain Quast completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Bethesda Naval Hospital, serving as the class president and earning "Intern of the Year" distinction. He was subsequently selected to serve as the Chief of Residents for his first staff tour and completed a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Walter Reed-Bethesda's National Capital Consortium (2006-09) where he was a finalist for the Bailey K. Ashford award for research in 2009.

Quast has been devoted to mentorship and career development. He initiated a formal mentorship program at Walter Reed and created a Career Development Board program at US Naval Hospital Guam that is used at numerous Navy MTFs. Captain Quast served at Walter Reed from 2009-12, from which he deployed to Kandahar in 2010. In Kandahar he served as the ICU director, overseeing the care of hundreds of coalition warriors during the kinetic operations known as the “Kandahar Surge.”

In 2012 he reported to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam where he served as Director of Primary Care. As one of two intensivists on Guam, he served both the local community and the Navy's highest acuity ICU. In 2015 he reported to Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) and was selected as the Navy’s Internal Medicine Specialty Leader for 440 internists and subspecialists worldwide. As Specialty Leader, he provided maximum support to the Fleet from his community by more than doubling downrange deployments from previous years and developing internist metrics for “knowledge, skills, and abilities.” He served as the Pulmonary-Critical Care and Sleep Department Chair and was an inaugural graduate for NMCSD’s Healthcare Quality and Leadership Academy.

In 2018 Quast reported as Executive Officer to U.S. Naval Hospital Rota, Spain, where he developed over two dozen Director-level quality initiatives, including the implementation of a vibrant and growing telehealth capability. His leadership was integral in ensuring Force Health Protection at Rota during a time when Spain had the highest worldwide mortality rate, and he authored a COVID Reconstitution Plan that has been used as a template for other regional MTFs.

Captain Quast's personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (3), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (5), and the Navy Achievement Medal (5). In 2014 he received the American College of Physicians’ Sparks award for the top U.S. Navy Internist in teaching and academic acumen and was honored as a Master Clinician in 2017 at NMCSD.