What You Need To Know
As members of the Golden Hour Offset Surgical Treatment Teams (GHOST-Ts), Dr. Vince Moss and Dr. Vance Moss have performed surgery in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, in the back of a Chinook helicopter and in improvised ORs in a forward operating base.
As part of a team that supports U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) during operations providing surgical treatment and trauma resuscitation, the twin brothers have to be ready to deploy on short notice.
The support they have received from JFK University Medical Center has enabled them to make the transition between civilian and military commitments seamless.
“When we're with special operations, we could be called to duty at any moment. We only have so much time to prepare our family, prepare our practice and pretty much get ourselves in the mode of being deployed,” Vince said. “We have been employed at numerous institutions. We both have come to the conclusion that the support from HMH is above and beyond. JFK has been like a family to us.”
Vince, a general and thoracic surgeon, who has been with JFK since 2010, was in Afghanistan with Vance when his deployment was extended in 2020 because of COVID. That meant he wasn’t able to be at JFK for the birth of his son.
“JFK went above and beyond to make sure that the communications were set up so that I could be with my wife (a former Emergency Department nurse at JFK) virtually and securely,” Vance said.
The brothers - Vince is three minutes older - have been in the Reserves for more than 20 years and have attained the rank of Colonel. Vance, a urology and renal transplantation surgeon, extended his practice to Edison in 2023.
They coordinated the efforts of the U.S. military, U.S. State Department and Northwest Medical Teams International to complete several surgical missions over several years in war torn Afghanistan while the war around them ravaged the country. The many citizens they treated included women, children and warlords.
Family members serving simultaneously in combat is rare, but even more uncommon is twins serving together in the same combat theater with Special Operations. Their service has earned them many accolades including: being named ABC World News Tonight’s 2008 “Person(s) of the Year”; Men’s Health Magazine named them the “2008 International Health Heroes”; and receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and a 2008 Trumpet Award in Medicine, which is presented to African-American achievers in many varied fields of endeavor.
Vince explained how being in the field has made him a better doctor.
“From the military I’ve learned how to perform tasks with minimal resources and to improvise quickly and safely,” he said. “It's taught me how to deal with pressure.”
What Vince has appreciated about JFK is the care and respect they have shown, citing how they streamline the credentialing process when returning from deployment.
There are two stressors when vets come home, according to Vince.
“One is the transition at home. There’s also the transition back to work and it's sometimes overwhelming,” he said. “I believe that sometimes people are unaware of that and they believe that just because you transitioned at home that you have transitioned at work.”
To help, Vince advises team members to be cognizant and ask how the veteran is doing, if there’s anything they need, how they are feeling and offering access to mental health resources.
“I think that's very important for soldier citizens who work in the hospital, whether it’s as a medic, a nurse or a building operations team member who may have been in the infantry, that support is extremely, extremely important and JFK has been unbelievable,” Vince said. “I would advise veterans to find out all of the programs that JFK and HMH have because they're out there and they're there to support us.”
Vince appreciates events held on Veterans Day and Memorial Day as well as the support felt year-round.
“JFK is a model of the type of veteran support that I think that other institutions can learn from here,” Vince said.
Learn about the Veteran Team Member Resource Group. If you are interested in joining a TMRG, see information here and follow the steps.