Camp Pendleton Naval Replacement Hospital Construction Project Achieves Safety Milestone

By Jesse A. Lora, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest Public Affairs

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (NNS) -- Construction of the new Naval Hospital aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton reached a milestone on June 28 when more than one million man-hours of work was completed without a single Days Away, Restrictions, and Transfers (DART).

 "Safety remains the paramount concern during construction, and the project currently boasts a rate of zero DART incidences over one million cumulative man-hours of effort," said Lt. Cmdr. Stephen T. Padhi, NAVFAC Southwest senior assistant resident officer In charge of construction (ROICC) for Replacement Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration established DART and is used to calculate the number of days away from work, work activities that are restricted by an injury, or where a worker is transferred to another type of work due to an injury. The Navy/contractor team attributes this high safety rating to the cooperative culture of safety that has been firmly established on the jobsite.

"It is truly an honor for the entire blended hospital construction team to witness the results of the innovation and collaboration we have achieved to date," said Cmdr. Whit H. Robinson, NAVFAC Southwest resident ROICC for Replacement Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. "If there was ever a single theme that contributed to our success, it has been the clear sense of purpose and the incredibly strong desire by all team members to truly work together in order to achieve what many thought was impossible. This is all for those warriors that sacrifice everything for our freedom without even a thought of getting something in return."

Other significant milestones completed on the hospital project thus far include design completion, topping out of structural steel, substantial completion of the parking structure, completion of concrete placement for grade and deck slabs, start of exterior skin framing, and start of interior framing and drywall. The project has also garnered first place in the California Team Excellence Award competition for 2011, and took the Complex Project award at the 2011-2012 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Anaheim May 23.

Walter Reed Enters Final Phase with Patient Moves

By Terri Moon Cronk

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2011 – About 200 outpatient wounded warriors are expected to move from Walter Reed Army Medical Center here this weekend to the nearby National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., as the two hospitals move closer to becoming one.

More than 100 inpatients will move from Walter Reed’s wards to Bethesda by ambulance Aug. 28, and the flag will be lowered for good at the 102-year-old Army hospital.

Also as part of the changes in military health care facilities in the national capital region mandated by the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005, some of Walter Reed’s functions, patients and staff are moving to the newly expanded DeWitt Army Community Hospital on Fort Belvoir, Va.

After the Army and Navy hospitals merge, the Bethesda campus will be renamed as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Walter Reed’s era of caring for privates to presidents has spanned both world wars, the Korean conflict, Vietnam and the return of prisoners of war, and the decade-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. At a recent transition ceremony, military medical leaders reflected on Walter Reed’s history as the Army’s flagship of medicine.

“It is bittersweet that we are marking an ending to mark a new beginning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,” said Army Col. Norvell V. “Van” Coots, commander of Walter Reed’s health care system. “You can go anywhere in the world, and … people who don’t speak English know the words ‘Walter Reed.’ To me, that’s how you define ‘iconic.’”

Built for 80 inpatients in 1909 under a single roof in a Georgian-brick building, the former Walter Reed General Hospital eventually became the bustling medical campus it is today, with 72 buildings on a 113-acre plot of land, closely surrounded by a neighborhood in the upper-northwest quadrant of the nation’s capital.

“[There was] no room to expand and meet the changing demands of the complexity of the wounded warriors,” Coots said. “The room was found on the grounds of the naval hospital in Bethesda,” he said.

Standing ready for Walter Reed’s patients are the newly dedicated Wounded Warriors Barracks and Wounded Warriors Complex, dedicated two weeks ago at Bethesda.

Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, Army surgeon general and a former Walter Reed commander, called the transition a time to celebrate the “history of this great campus, and to celebrate unquestionable high-quality care” in the course of its lengthy history.

Navy Rear Adm. Matthew L. Nathan, National Naval Medical Center commander, said he looks forward to the quality of care the merger will provide.

“We recognize, as teammates, to … take Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center and forge [an] integrated staff and facilities to become the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda,” he said. “The synergy and partnership that that creates will [provide] the highest, most pristine medicine.”

MCPON Sends Hospital Corpsman Birthday Message

Special Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON)(SS/SW) Rick D. West released the following hospital corpsman birthday message to the Fleet June 17.

"Shipmates,

For 113 years, hospital corpsmen have been deployed with our Sailors and Marines worldwide, have served in every major battle and have always been ready to answer the call 'Corpsman Up!' The hospital corpsman legacy is one of pride, consummate professionalism, dedication to duty, and always placing a shipmate's needs before their own.

As I travel around the Fleet, I'm always inspired by your dedication and devotion to duty, whether in combat, underway on, above or under the world's oceans, during humanitarian relief missions or helping our Sailors, Marines, families and retirees here at home.

I recently visited your new training facilities in San Antonio, and I was very impressed by the enthusiasm of our young future Navy corpsmen and the staff leading them. I have seen your training pipelines and know first hand that Hospital Corpsman training is some of the longest and most intense training available to our Sailors. This is evident through the outstanding medical treatment you provide everyday at home and abroad. I'm not surprised that we are experiencing the lowest battle mortality and non-battle injury rates in the history of armed conflict which is due to your exceptional training and skills, and your willingness to help all those you come in contact with in their greatest time of need.

To the thousands of hospital corpsmen who serve our great Navy, I am extremely proud of each and every one of you for answering the call to duty and for your selfless service. I ask that you stay vigilant and committed to one another and to the values and principles that have defined your past and will forge your future. Happy Birthday Navy corpsman … you're making a difference every day as you have been your last 113 years.

HOOYAH Warriors!

Very Respectfully,

MCPON"

Naval Hospital Corps School Makes Historic Move

By L.A. Shively, Navy Medicine Support Command Public Affairs

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (NNS) -- Navy Medicine and the Hospital Corps marked the milestone of the relocation of the Naval Hospital Corps School from Great Lakes, Ill., to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, during a ceremony aboard Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, April 21.

"The Commandant's Own," the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, performed as Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen from the tri-service Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) attended the ceremony.

"METC is both a place and an idea," said Rear Adm. William R. Kiser, METC inaugural commandant. "As a place it represents new buildings and infrastructure, which is absolutely world class. As an idea, it is always good to train like we fight. It's always good to come together to get know each other and develop trust in each other before we show up on the battlefield."

Hospital Corpsman training at Fort Sam Houston continues to include basic courses taught in Navy service-unique classes but now adds multi-service integrated classes. Navy Corpsmen began training in advanced "C School" classes at METC in May 2010. The BRAC deadline for all students to train at the METC is Sept. 14.

The average daily student load for basic and advanced medical training is estimated to be about 9,000 Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen, making METC the world's largest military medical education and training facility.

Force Master Chief Laura Martinez, director of the Hospital Corps, was the guest speaker for the ceremony. She discussed the corpsman's training and mission, and she addressed the history of the Navy's largest rating and the significance of corpsman training at Great Lakes dating back to 1917.

"Today we honor and celebrate that sacred trust to ensure our nation has a medically ready, fit, and fighting force and that those who've served our nation, along with their families, can always count on the Hospital Corps to help provide quality and compassionate patient and family-centered health care," Martinez said.

"It is no accident that we are experiencing the lowest battle mortality and non-battle injury rates in the history of armed conflict," said Martinez, a hospital corpsman for more than 30 years. "This is due in large part to our exceptional corpsmen and their training. The Hospital Corps is the largest rating in our Navy and the most decorated in the United States. Twenty naval ships alone have been named after hospital corpsmen."

Seaman Jose Espinoza, a student in the first Hospital Corps School class at Fort Sam Houston, expressed pride in his training as a hospital corpsman.

"I feel honored so say that when I put on my uniform, I not only represent the U.S. Navy. I also represent generations of Sailors who have gone before me to fight for my freedom."

Fellow Student Seaman Daniella Summers echoed Martinez' commitment to service, adding, "No matter the situation, a shipmate will never be left behind," she said.

"We have long heard the call 'Corpsman up', that we have answered in every major battle since the Corps' founding," Martinez said. "At the same time, the Hospital Corps has always provided care for family members and retirees at military treatment facilities around the globe. This dual commitment will never waver, no matter where our Sailors and Marines go or what they do.