Col. (Ret.) Stephen F. Flaherty, MD, FACS

Dr. Flaherty received his bachelor of science and medical degrees from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. Following medical school, he entered the Army and served as a general surgery intern and then resident at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. After 1 year at Ft. Hood, Texas, he completed training as a trauma/critical care fellow at Boston City Hospital then returned to Texas as trauma medical director and program director for the surgical critical care fellowship at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC). Under his leadership, BAMC became the first verified Level 1 trauma center in the Army and continues to maintain Level 1 status today.

Six years later, Dr. Flaherty moved to North Carolina to become chief of surgery at Fort Bragg. That move coincided with the beginning of military activity in Iraq, leading to multiple combat deployments, culminating in his deployment as the forward director of the Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS), functioning as trauma medical director for all facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He later moved to Germany, where as chief of surgery, he led the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to achieve verification by the ACS as a Level 2 trauma center (the first such verification awarded outside the continental US). While in Germany Dr. Flaherty also established a research cell and was co-investigator with a civilian colleague on a project assessing mild traumatic brain injury in active-duty soldiers exposed to blast effect that resulted in a publication in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Retiring from the US Army in 2010 after 22 years of service, Dr. Flaherty is now trauma medical director at Del Sol Medical Center and chair of the Texas Trauma Systems Committee.

Dr. Flaherty served on the ACS Committee on Trauma from 2010 to 2016. He served as a general surgeon during Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Joint Forge. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit, Surgeon General’s Physician Recognition Award, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Medal, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and National Defense Service Ribbon with Bronze Service Star.