Joint Base McGuire - Dix - Lakehurst, NJ -- A clinic specific to the needs of reservists and guardsmen from the U.S. Army has opened its doors on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Annual Trainees Clinic has been a priority for leadership within the 87th Medical Group for over a year in order to provide on-base medical services.
“The current footprint in the facility with reference to manpower of clinicians and admin staff, is set to meet the needs of the enrolled patient population, which is about 16,000,” said Air Force Maj. Reni Angelova, 87th MDG Administrator. “The current MDG manpower model does not take into account the resources needed to provide care for our troops on the ranges.”
The general population of Joint Base MDL can fluctuate throughout the year with ongoing training. While active duty members and civilians make up the population for the most part, drill weekends and frequent exercises bring in many more personnel. Army reservists and guardsmen previously utilized off-base resources in order to access sick-call services until the medical representatives on the installation partnered under the Joint Base Health Council in finding a solution to provide patient care services for the training population at the Clinic on base.
“I wanted to ensure our reserve and National Guard soldiers were being afforded the opportunity to seek treatment for acute needs while here training,” said Army Maj. Mercedes Bloat, ASA-Dix Medical Operations and Training officer, who worked with Keller Army Community Hospital to contract personnel for the project. “This has been a joint partnership between the Army and Air Force, and shows that we can work together to achieve a common goal – providing medical care to soldiers training at Joint Base MDL.”
An additional importance to the Joint Base Healthcare Council and medical partners is to eventually have medical representation for each branch on the installation.
“Although the establishment of the Annual Trainees Clinic is an excellent start, the end goal that we’d like to reach is a “right-sized” manpower with joint clinical footprint of Army, Navy and Air Force clinicians, accounting for the needs of all uniformed personnel,” said Angelova. “This will allow us to address the specific readiness requirements of all branches of service. The lack of unified readiness requirement platform presents obstacles of its own – a permanent joint team of clinicians is the least that can be done to alleviate the challenges towards achieving full spectrum medical readiness. ”
The AT clinic is yet another step in continuous cultivation of unity among Joint Base personnel.
“No matter if you're Navy, Air Force or Army, we all are one team,” said Angelova. “The challenges we overcame as joint partners made us realize that we are stronger together.”