Dr. Daniel Birchmore, chief of rheumatology at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), has been named the recipient of the Mark Wolcott Award for Excellence in Clinical Care Delivery by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Mark Wolcott Award was established in 1996 to recognize two outstanding Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care practitioners who are deserving of special recognition for their contributions in enhancing clinical care. It was named after Mark Wolcott, M.D., who dedicated over 40 years of his life to serve and improve the quality of health care for VHA's Veteran population.

Birchmore has been providing care to Veterans at TVHS for more than 20 years. He diligently split his time serving as a primary care provider, triage attending, medical ward attending, and rheumatology provider and improved immunization rates at TVHS.

"Tennessee Valley Healthcare System is a great place to practice medicine and help our Veterans," Dr. Birchmore said. "The award was quite a surprise to me. I am honored."

In addition to his work at TVHS, Birchmore serves as an assistant professor in Vanderbilt University's Division of Rheumatology and Immunology and assists in teaching the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program.

Prior to his start in medicine, Birchmore competed on the University of Georgia men's tennis team. He was inducted into the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011. When he is not serving patients and teaching students, he can almost always be found on the Vanderbilt tennis courts.

TVHS is an integrated tertiary health care system comprised of two hospitals, the Alvin C. York Campus in Murfreesboro and the Nashville Campus, as well as more than a dozen community-based outpatient clinics located in Tennessee and Kentucky. TVHS provides ambulatory care, primary care, and secondary care in acute medicine and surgery, specialized tertiary care, transplant services, spinal cord injury outpatient care, and a full range of extended care and mental health services.