The United States Public Health Service, A Wonderful Career!!!  

Please celebrate with us as we highlight and honor nurses who have achieved successful professional careers with the US Public Health Service. 

The honoree for this term is:

David W. Kelly, PhD, RN, CPHA, CERC

Captain, U.S. Public Health Service

In his role at BPHC, Dr. Kelly is the principal advisor on the quality management aspects of the Health Center Program for federally sponsored community health centers.  The Health Center Program supports over 1,000 grantees servicing 17.1 million patients.  In addition, he is the HRSA representative to The Joint Commission’s Professional and Technical Advisory Committee for ambulatory services.

Aside from his regular duties, he teaches in two online nursing programs.  At Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA, he teaches nursing theories and health care ethics to Doctor of Nursing Practice students; and at American Sentinel University in Aurora, CO his focus is on teaching master’s students’ health care finance and economics.

 Most recently, he served as the Chair for the U.S. Public Health Service Nurse Professional Advisory Committee (N-PAC). The N-PAC assists in the development, coordination, and evaluation of issues of concern as they relate to professional nursing and Health and Human Services/Public Health Service (HHS/PHS) personnel matters.  These activities included assessing nursing and public health needs and assisting in meeting those needs; identified and facilitated resolution of issues of concern; providing dialogue and comment on subjects related to nursing and public health; and promoted the development and utilization of nurses by HHS/PHS and other government agencies/programs. 

During his tenure, he was credited with moving the category forward in transformation, improved organization of the N-PAC, and establishing a comprehensive plan for nurse recruitment while increasing the categories strength by 20 percent.  He also represented the U.S. Public Health Service on the Admission’s Committee of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences for five years and is an adjunct professor of nursing at the school. 

His previous assignments included tours as Director, Division of Commissioned Corps Training and Career Development, Lead Transformation Officer, and Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.  Additionally, he served as the Deputy Director, Division of Health Careers Diversity and Development, Deputy Branch Chief for Scholarships and Loans, and Nurse Consultant for the Division of Nursing in the HRSA, Bureau of Health Professions.  In addition, initially a member of the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force that transformed into the readiness requirement for all officers, he has responded to numerous deployments to hurricanes, tropical storms, medical support missions, the anthrax attacks in Washington, DC, and the terrorist attacks at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York (9/11).

Prior to his federal service, he was the Nursing Bureau Chief for Arlington Health District, Arlington Virginia where he established the first HIV/AIDS Bureau in the Commonwealth developing needed services for a vulnerable population.  In addition, he has worked in almost every health care setting from inpatient, emergency services, home care, long-term care, to a health maintenance organization.  Each of these positions has contributed to his growth and development as a nurse, administrator, educator, public health service officer, and leader.

Before joining the U.S. Public Health Service, he had a 27-year career in the U.S. military (active and reserve duty).  He spent 10 years in either the U.S. Navy or Naval Reserves and 17 years in the U.S. Army Reserves rising from a Seaman Recruit to a Lieutenant Colonel.  While in the Army Reserve, he served in various positions as a nurse, educator, administrator and ultimately the Deputy Chief of Staff for Training for the 2290^th U.S. Army Hospital General Officer Command.

Dr. Kelly received his undergraduate degrees in nursing from Pace University, his master’s degree in (health care) administration from Central Michigan University, a post-masters certificate in nursing education from George Mason University, and a doctorate in business administration with a specialization in health care administration from Northcentral University. He is a certified public health administrator and emergency response coordinator through the Public Health Practitioner Certification Board and completed the HRSA Primary Care Policy Fellowship.

Captain Kelly is a member of many nursing and public health organizations, including the Commissioned Officer’s Association.  He is married to Kathleen Kelly and has two daughters Kristin (LCDR, USPHS), and Debra.