Photo By Sgt. Liane Hatch | Representatives from Fort Drum, the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Fort Drum...... read more read more
Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division (LI), welcomed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to Fort Drum at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield on May 1, where Gillibrand hosted a roundtable discussion on Fort Drum’s integrated military health care model.
The senator gathered with Piatt and other Fort Drum representatives, the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, local health care executives, community leaders, and staff from the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the successes of the integrated health military health care model, which is unique to Fort Drum - the only Army installation in the continental U.S. that is home to a division of Soldiers but does not operate a hospital on post.
“Today we had the opportunity to explain why Fort Drum and the surrounding community work so well together, that in fact this is a base and a community that very much support one another,” Gillibrand said. “We talked specifically today about health care and how the regional hospitals have really worked hard over the past few decades to really meet the needs of the men and women who serve here at Fort Drum.”
Gillibrand said that the integrated military health care model, which relies on local community hospitals to provide services to service members and their families, seems to result in higher quality of care that meets the needs and demands of service members and the community simultaneously, while also resulting in high cost savings.
“From a military perspective, people always say ‘Well you don’t have a military hospital on Fort Drum,’ and I say ‘Yes we do; we have five.’ They just happen to be out in the community; we’re integrated,” said Piatt.
Erika Flint, executive director of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, attributed much of the model’s success over the past 32 years to open communication and dedication to finding mutually beneficial solutions.
“We don't see Fort Drum as an addition to our community; it really generally is a part of our community, and that is health care, schools, all that we are,” Flint said. “Our regional health planning organization creates an infrastructure where that communication can take place. That is the critical component, built on trust and collaboration. It has to be win win, it has to be open conversation, and any decisions that are made with the best intentions have to be analyzed first and planned accordingly before any kind of execution can happen,” she said.
Prior to the roundtable discussion, Gary Leeling and Dr. Al Edwards, staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, toured the regional health care facilities and met with community leaders to learn more about the integrated model in hopes of discovering what elements could be replicated to provide higher quality of care and additional cost savings across other military services and installations.
“We’ve learned a lot that we can take back with us . . .to help establish integrated health systems elsewhere,” Edwards said.
Regional hospital leadership and a representative from the Syracuse VA also attended the discussion, speaking on the ways their respective hospitals have specifically partnered with the Fort Drum community to provide care for service members and their families while also meeting local needs.
The senator specifically highlighted the way Fort Drum and River Hospital have been able to accommodate an increased need for mental health services for service members since 2013, particularly related to combat and non-combat related Post-Traumatic Stress and sexual assault.
“What’s so extraordinary about this community is they built the resources to meet the need, both with PTSD and sexual assault survivors,” she said. “They absolutely responded when there was a need for that service.”
Piatt continued to emphasize readiness, praising the community for its dedication to the medical readiness of Fort Drum Soldiers in the face of an uncertain future.
“This is by far the best military community I’ve ever been stationed at,” Piatt said. “I don’t say that lightly; I say it because the community has a vested interest in our readiness, and I have to build readiness not just for today, to make sure our units are ready for whatever demands the unpredictable future will bring upon the 10th Mountain Division.”
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2017 14:09 |
| Story ID: | 232300 |
| Location: | NY, US |
| Web Views: | 91 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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