Army Reserve nurse practitioner from New Albany, Miss. supports defense COVID-19 response

Photo By courtesy asset | Maj. Lisa Foley, a nurse practitioner from New Albany, Miss., captures a photo prior to departing to serve with an Army Reserve Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force. She is one of more than 1,200 Army Reserve medical professionals mobilized as part of the Department of Defense response to COVID-19. She is currently serving at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, a temporary hospital set up in Philadelphia, Pa.  

PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES

04.24.2020

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Scott 

Army Reserve Medical Command

“I love my country and if I have a skill that is needed, I should do my part,” stated Maj. Lisa Foley, an Army Reserve nurse practitioner from New Albany, Mississippi currently supporting the Department of Defense response to COVID-19.

Foley is currently serving at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa., which has been transformed into a field hospital site. She is one of more than 1,200 Army Reserve medical professionals that have been mobilized in Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces, as part of the DoD’s response, which is being led by U.S. Northern Command.

U.S. Army North, as U.S Northern Command’s Joint Force Land Component Command, continues the rapid integration of medical capabilities in several locations around the country, while remaining flexible to rapidly respond to emerging needs as part of the Department of Defense’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The JFLCC has employed UAMTFs in nine U.S. cities, including Philadelphia.

Specifically created to respond in this time of crisis, UAMTFs augment the civilian medical community by delivering a wide range of critical medical capabilities. Each 85-person UAMTF consists of doctors, nurses, combat medics, respiratory therapists, and ancillary personnel.

Foley was inspired to join the Army by the director of her nursing program at Mississippi University for Women, where she earned both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing.

“The director of my nursing program at Mississippi University for Women, Joyce Thornton, was a Lt. Col. in the Army Reserve and someone I looked up to,” she shared. “That led me in my path with the military.”

Foley later earned a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from The University of Alabama at Birmingham and is currently employed as a cardiology nurse practitioner with the Cardiovascular Institute at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

“My family hates to see me go but are very proud that their wife, mama and ‘Honey’ (grandmother) is a Soldier,” shared Foley. “I continue to serve in the Army Reserve because I feel like we all owe something back to our country.”

Foley is traditionally a member of the Army Reserve Medical Command, Western Medical Area Readiness Group, 7223rd Medical Support Unit in Mobile, Alabama.

“My hope and prayer for those currently serving or who will serve in this COVID-19 response is safety for themselves and their patients,” said Foley.

• Date Taken: 04.24.2020
• Date Posted: 04.24.2020 10:11
• Story ID: 368370
• Location: PHILADELPHIA, PA, US
• Hometown: NEW ALBANY, MS, US