Owen J O'Neill MD, MPH, FUHM, FACHM

President and Chief Dive Medical Officer, U.S. Hyperbaric Tunnel Medical Team

Director, U.S. Hyperbaric Tunnel Medical Research Division

Medical Director, Westchester Hyperbaric Medicine P.C.

Founding Medical Director, Department of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine/Phelps Hospital Northwell Health

Dr. O’Neill completed post-graduate training in general surgery and internal medicine at hospitals affiliated with New York Medical College. He also completed a burn research fellowship at Westchester Medical Center and Macy Burn Center and training in clinical Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine with the world-renowned hyperbaracist Dr. Eric Kindwall.  Dr. O’Neill was certified indefinitely in 1993 after completing the Kindwall National Certification Program in Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine.  He completed the Beta certification examination in hyperbaric medicine in 2010 through the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine and holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications in hyperbaric medicine from the UHMS Physician Advanced Training in Hyperbaric Medicine Program (PATH). He is elected a Fellow in Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society, a distinction awarded to less than 40 physicians worldwide specializing in Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine. 

Dr. O’Neill serves as lead dive medical officer on commercial dive projects incorporating mixed gas and saturation operations, deep tunneling projects using tunnel boring machines, transfer shuttles (darts), and multi-place deck decompression chambers (Med-Lock).  Dr. O’Neill is a Dive Medical Examiner  (DME) and holds active certification through the Diving Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC). He has a Master of Public Health degree from The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHUBSPH) with a concentration in Environmental & Occupational Health. He is actively involved in the well-being of commercial divers and tunnel workers. He conducts research to preserve their health at JHUBSPH, specifically at the Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Engineering.

Dr. O’Neill was recruited by Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in 2004 to develop the largest and most state-of-the-art hyperbaric chamber and hyperbaric medicine program in the Northeastern United States, where he currently serves as the Medical Director. 

Dr. O’Neill has been appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College, where he has lectured extensively on topics related to hyperbaric medicine.  He lectures at national and international undersea & hyperbaric medicine conferences and is published in medical journals and diving medicine textbooks. He established the first elective undersea & hyperbaric medicine rotation for third- and fourth-year medical students at New York Medical College. He was invited to deliver the first formal medical school lecture series on undersea & hyperbaric medicine to the medical school class and pre-interns. He was bestowed the Dean's Award for “Innovative Program Development” for his efforts in establishing hyperbaric medicine into the medical school curriculum and his contribution to the Deans Transition to Residency Program.

Dr. O’Neill has been appointed Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Upstate Medical University of New York.  In 2010, he was recruited by the University to provide multi-place training for the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship program and provides formal academic lectures on this topic at the Upstate University Medical Center. Dr. O’Neill is a member of the Board of Directors of the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). He assumes the position of President of the UHMS in June 2024, where he also serves as the Co-Chair of the Education Committee and editor for the Publications Committee.  Through his experience and expertise, he serves as a physician surveyor with the UHMS Hyperbaric Facility Accreditation Team. He is the medical director for Westchester Hyperbaric Medicine, a private clinical undersea & hyperbaric medical practice.  He is also the president and chief diving medical officer for the nation’s leading emergency dive medical team, US Hyperbaric Diving & Tunnel Medicine.