CPC Restores The Fisher House Garden

Photo By Seaman Imani Daniels | PORTSMOUTH, Va. (June 25, 2020) – Cmdr. James Rapley, Continuity of Psychiatric Care (CPC) department head, speaks during the garden ribbon cutting ceremony at the Fisher House Jun. 25. The patients of the CPC program cleaned out and restored the old garden to bring a soothing atmosphere to the Fisher House and its residents. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Imani N. Daniels/Released)  

PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

06.25.2020

Story by Seaman Imani Daniels 

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (June 25, 2020) – Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) Continuity of Psychiatric Care (CPC) program held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the garden at the Fisher House Jun. 25. The patients of the CPC program cleaned out and restored the old garden to bring a soothing atmosphere to the Fisher House and its residents.
“What these individuals have done here is taken over the garden,” said Shirley Moone, registered nurse and program manager. “We have been renovating the garden for the past few months and today is the big reveal of the hard work and dedication from the patients of the CPC.”
The CPC program is a mental health recovery program which provides clinical and administrative support, and community resources to active duty military that are no longer combat ready and are going through the Disability Evaluation System (DES) process due to serious mental illnesses.
“Our patients are the severe mentally ill,” Moone said. “We currently have 16 members in our program. The sailors are often overlooked, so we want to show how great of a job they do in the program and for the community.”
CPC’s scope of care reaches service members diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, a major mood disorder with psychotic features, or other severe mental illness no longer requiring inpatient hospitalization. The program is designed for service members who have limited functional levels preventing them from returning to Active Duty or receiving care through regular outpatient appointments.
“They have done a marvelous job,” Moone said. “People tend to look down on our patients, but the point of this is to display that these individuals are still active members of the military and to show off the beauty that they have produced to the garden of the Fisher House.”
The NMCP Fisher House is one of more than 60 houses donated to the government by the Fisher House Foundation, which was designed to care for and provide free temporary housing to active duty, retired military, veterans and the families of patients receiving medical care. The foundation provides grants to families, allowing them to stay in a “home-away-from-home” near the treatment center.
As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.

• Date Taken: 06.25.2020
• Date Posted: 06.29.2020 15:49
• Story ID: 373026
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US