Photo By Dawn Grimes | Lt. Ara Gutierrez named Navy Medicine's Jr. Subspecialty Officer of the Year, 2020.... read more read more
(Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) The COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain not only on frontline healthcare workers but also the medical laboratory professionals who perform COVID-19 testing behind the scenes. Medical laboratory professionals who have rarely been in public view are now thrust in the spotlight. Lt. Ara M. Gutierrez, MSC, Naval Readiness and Training Command Guantanamo Bay (NMRTC GB), has been selected Navy Medicine’s Medical Technology Subspecialty Junior Officer of the Year (2020), said she is honored to represent medicine’s "hidden profession.”
”For our isolated duty station, getting supplies and resources as efficiently and quickly as possible is paramount in delivering patient care and it’s especially important for the laboratory department.” Lt. Gutierrez said. Gutierrez, who is the only military Medical Technologist on island explained, “We developed mitigation strategies to enhance chain of custody and reduce turnaround time for laboratory samples to get to reference laboratories.” At the onset of the pandemic, US Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay (USNH GB) turnaround time for the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19 was 72 hours. Under Gutierrez’s leadership, the laboratory was able to reduce turnaround time to just 15 minutes. “As of today, we currently have three methodologies to perform testing for COVID, one methodology to test for COVID-19 antibodies and two methodologies to test for the COVID virus.” Gutierrez explained, “The fact that we have multiple ways to test for COVID and COVID antibodies makes the hospital very self-sufficient and prepared if we ever run out of supplies for one analyzer since we would have redundancy in our capabilities.”
“Lt. Gutierrez’s accomplishments have been nothing short of exceptional.” stated Cmdr. Shawn Weber, Director, Clinical Support Services, NMRTC GB. “From her guidance in the medical laboratory to her leadership within the Command, Wardroom, MSC Association, and Diversity Committee, she’s shown how highly capable she is. I’m extremely pleased and not surprised she was chosen.”
Gutierrez who joined the Navy on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 2010, said she was genuinely surprised when she learned about her selection. “I just made Lieutenant last March and gave birth a month after. I didn't think that my efforts would be enough to compete, let alone be selected.” Gutierrez who has served on the USNS Mercy and at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego continued, “Compared to others who didn't have to deal with maternity leave and balancing their daily work, military life, and being a first time mom I wasn't sure that I was enough.”
Gutierrez, started medical training in the Philippines. “While in school I felt there would be more opportunities for me to serve sick people and help my family if I attended school in the US.” To the Navy’s fortune, while in school, Gutierrez stayed with her Uncle, a retired Navy Chief. “He mentored me about the possibility of being a Navy Corpsman and a few weeks later I enlisted.” Celebrating her two year Guantanamo Bay anniversary on January 15, 2021, Gutierrez said she is happy and humbled to represent her team at NMRTC GB in this unique way. “With how isolated our duty station is, our efforts might not as apparent, but this award really highlights the effort that is required because of our limited resources and challenging supply chain.” She added, “It’s an all-in effort by our laboratory department and I’m honored to have been able to contribute for our patients.”
Lt. Gutierrez departs USNH GB in March for NMRTC Yokosuka, Japan where she will be Laboratory Department Head.
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2021 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 386720 |
| Location: | CU |
| Web Views: | 1,340 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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