Photo By Rachel Larue | Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander Col. Mike Henderson gives remarks at a town...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander Col. Mike Henderson addressed the concerns of employees and the installation’s preparedness for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during a town hall Nov. 12 in Spates Community Club on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base.
Much media attention has been given to the massive outbreak of Ebola in western Africa and the few cases that have popped up in the United States.
U.S. military personnel are being deployed to Africa to provide assistance to medical personnel and to build 17 disease treatment centers by the end of the year, according to several Pentagon news reports.
During the town hall, Henderson and Lt. Col. Ed Weinberg, commander of JBM-HH’s Andrew Rader U.S. Army Health Clinic, briefed employees and community members on the basics of the virus, the goal of the mission and the operating procedures for disease prevention on base.
Both Henderson and Weinberg stressed that service members deployed to fight Ebola would not be in direct contact with infected patients.
“The bottom line is, right now the United States Army folks who are deploying are not the ones who are directly treating the patients,” Henderson said. “We should rest assured with that.”
All troops deployed to these countries will undergo a 21-day quarantine, or “monitoring period,” upon completion of the mission to confirm that they did not contract the virus. According to various Pentagon news reports, these service members will be sequestered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood or Fort Bliss, in Texas; or Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington.
One service member on JBM-HH will be deploying to western Africa in support of the 86th Combat Support Hospital out of Fort Campbell, Weinberg said. That person will likely undergo a monitoring period on a different installation, Weinberg said.
Weinberg assured community members that Rader Clinic was prepared for the disease.
Infrastructure is in place to transport patients to Walter Reed and to trace an infected patient’s points of contact – where they went, who they talked to, what they touched – on base before their case was discovered, he said.
He also stressed that it can only be transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, and that there have only been a handful of cases in the nation.
“It’s not spreading like the flu,” Weinberg said. “You should be more concerned about the flu.”
Employee questions, concerns
After the Ebola briefing, Henderson also addressed employee concerns raised during his introductory town hall meeting in early September.
JBM-HH employees raised questions about teleworking, a year-round wellness program and civilian use of the dining facility.
Regarding teleworking, Henderson acknowledged that there were many considerations before employees are approved to telework regularly.
Only two of more than 200 eligible employees have actually been approved to telework, he said. Measuring productivity can be difficult, and approvals take time. Regardless, he said he would be willing to look at telework options.
Other employees wondered whether the Installation Management Command’s wellness program could be a year-round feature. Henderson said that extending the policy would not be possible, but encouraged employees to exercise during their lunch breaks or before and after work hours.
Under current IMCOM policy, the one-time-only program allows federal civilian employees up to six months to participate in exercise during work hours.
Finally, Henderson and Command Sgt. Maj. Randall Woods explained why civilians were unable to use the dining facility on base.
Woods said the dining facility has to maintain a 65 percent utilization rate from meal-card holding service members. If card-holder use dips below that number, the dining facility could be closed down, he said.
“It’s not about money, it’s about intent and purpose of chow halls,” Woods said.
| Date Taken: | 11.12.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.21.2014 18:23 |
| Story ID: | 148557 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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