USAG Ansbach’s Health Clinic adapts to the changes caused by COVID-19 on USAG Ansbach.

Photo By Sgt. Hunter Garcia | Lori Drake, a nurse case manager within U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach , handles medical cases at the USAG Ansbach Health Clinic, Germany, April 27, 2020. Drake organizes medical cases for the clinic which helps enable the readiness of permanent, rotational and expeditionary forces on USAG Ansbach. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Hunter)  

ANSBACH, BY, GERMANY

04.29.2020

Story by Pfc. Hunter Garcia 

12th Combat Aviation Brigade

ANSBACH, Germany - During the COVID-19 crisis, the staff of U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach’s Health Clinic adopts new procedures to continue functioning for the mission readiness on USAG Ansbach, Germany, April 29, 2020.

Lt. Col. Randy Viray, Ansbach Army Health Clinic Chief Nurse, talks about the facilities that are still open in the clinic and what facilities are not.

"We still have lab, pharmacy, behavioral health and physical therapy” he said. “The clinic is not seeing any routine care patients. These patients include: hypertension, diabetes, children greater than 18 months old, and sports physicals.”

Due to these new procedures, the clinic is moving towards more virtual care over the phone. Viray said the typical day is structured to accommodate these new needs.

“During the mornings, we open up a lot of virtual appointments where the doctor has time to call you at your house,” he said. “The afternoon is when we bring in a lot of our acute patients.”

Amber Amodt, Ansbach Army Health Clinic Nurse, explains what a typical work day looks like from a nurse’s perspective.

“For us, a lot of us work part of the day from home. We get up in the mornings and we start looking through all of our patients and see who needs contact first,” she said. They determine which patients need to come in and which don’t.”

Viray says the transition from face to face appointments to virtual appointments is mainly to decrease foot traffic through the clinic.

“Our nurses and our providers are pre screening the virtual appointments,” he said. “To prevent patients that do not need to come into the clinic.”

The clinic is planning on continuing regular operations in the next few months.

• Date Taken: 04.29.2020
• Date Posted: 05.13.2020 09:16
• Story ID: 369688
• Location: ANSBACH, BY, DE