Photo By Warren Wright | FORT DRUM, N.Y. – Kevin Harris (left) and Sheldon Bush, both information technology...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, New York – Information technology, or IT, plays a significant role in almost every aspect of healthcare. From scheduling appointments to real-time charting during a visit and e-prescribing medication, technology is involved in virtually every stage of a patient’s journey. This digital connectivity ensures that healthcare delivery is seamless, efficient, and fully coordinated from start to finish.
At Fort Drum’s Guthrie Army Health Clinic, the massive task of managing this digital ecosystem falls to the Information Management Division, or IMD for short. This specialized team of more than a dozen IT professionals supports all healthcare operations across Fort Drum, including an occupational health clinic at Watervliet Arsenal near Albany, New York. They are the essential link keeping patient care, and the technology that enables it, on track.
“We provide everything from MHS GENESIS training to the cyber patching of computer vulnerabilities and firewalls and everything that deals with securing the network,” explained Patricia Lamb, Guthrie AHC’s chief information officer. The scope of responsibility includes “around 900, 950 users, about 1,100 computers, 40 plus servers, two to three switches for every building, so about 120 to 130 switches, which is the backbone for the network connectivity.”
IMD’s responsibilities extend well beyond computers and servers. They also support a multitude of specialized equipment designed to support pharmaceutical operations, radiology, laboratory, logistics, and more, ensuring that all integrated technologies operate seamlessly to provide healthcare professionals with the tools they need to test, diagnose, and treat patients using the most advanced methods available.
“Almost every section has a specialized device that requires our network, our backbone, or our staff to assist with,” Lamb said. “We are here to support the individuals that are providing that care in whatever capacity by ensuring that we have systems that are available, up and running at all times, and make sure that it’s one less thing they have to worry about when they’re providing care to the patients.”
Lamb explained her team’s support extends well past the walls of the Guthrie clinic and the rest of the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity – Fort Drum. As the local network account administrators for MHS GENESIS, the military’s electronic health record system, IMD also assists healthcare providers in the 10th Mountain Division (LI) with MHS GENESIS account maintenance and support.
“We’re able to provide them (MHS GENESIS) accounts so that they can see their patients’ information right there where they’re taking care of them,” Lamb said of the 10th Mtn. Div. providers. “They can send in labs or whatever the patient needs, and also, in some instances, like the mission on the border, do virtual care through video.”
Each professional on the IMD team is a certified IT specialist, possessing at a minimum the baseline industry credentials necessary for foundational skills. Beyond this standard, the team prioritizes staying ahead of the curve through continuous education, focusing intently on the critical, ever-changing requirements of the IT landscape, especially in cybersecurity.
“Everybody on the automation side of IMD has a part in cybersecurity,” Lamb said. “Our cybersecurity manager is more like the point where the information is fed, but all of our people are part of the whole cybersecurity in order to harden devices to make it harder for adversaries to exploit vulnerabilities.”
Guthrie AHC and the Fort Drum MEDDAC were recently assessed by the Defense Health Agency for their cybersecurity maturity during a Cyber Health and Readiness Inspection Program, or CHRIP, evaluation. During the inspection, IMD received a rating of Maturity Level 3, surpassing the level 2 needed to be considered a secure site.
“The CHRIP has been a project that we have been working on to ensure that the servers are hardened, every device in this organization, every printer, making sure it is as secure as we can make it, knowing that new vulnerabilities come up all the time,” Lamb said. “So, these things can change, and we are constantly going back and reviewing it, and this team has succeeded at (achieving) a Maturity Level 3.”
Maj. Samuel C. Erickson, Guthrie AHC’s deputy commander for administration, who oversees the IMD department, explained the vital role IMD plays in the overall mission of healthcare operations on Fort Drum, saying, “Having access to our IMD department to troubleshoot and keep us up and running is critical to the running of the organization.”
“The MEDDAC relies on IT-related solutions to perform daily work through every department,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a single department that does not rely on IT-related solutions to get the job done. We take for granted things when they work well, and when they don’t, suddenly it’s highlighted how much we depend on them.”
Technology touches just about every aspect of interactions between healthcare staff and patients at the Guthrie clinic. When technology is working well, it’s not always visible. However, when a system fails, IMD steps in to troubleshoot failures and prevent disruptions to the critical flow of healthcare.
“It’s very complicated and difficult to keep things running smoothly all the time,” Erickson added. “Our IMD department does a very good job of it. They make the complicated and the difficult seem easy to do.”
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2025 12:14 |
| Story ID: | 553127 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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