Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class James Stenberg | As a result of an in-depth analysis conducted by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery...... read more read more
NAVAL HOSPITAL PENSACOLA, Fla. – As a result of an in-depth analysis conducted by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) during 2011 – 2013, several health care services at Naval Hospital Pensacola will change by June 2014.
The hospital’s Intensive Care Unit will be closed and the Emergency Room will be converted into an Urgent Care Center. In addition, the billets for the Family Medicine Residency Program will be redistributed to other Military Treatment Facilities and the program will be dissolved by the summer of 2016.
The recommendations from the analysis, which was conducted at nine in-patient MTFs throughout the United States, will ensure Navy Medicine resources are aligned to best meet the operational needs of the Navy, reduce costs and optimize its limited resources to provide the best care to beneficiaries. The decision to close the ICU and change the ER to a UCC was made because of low patient volume in the two departments and because there are three acute care civilian hospitals in the Pensacola area. The decreased volume of patients in the ICU and ER is actually a result of the improved health care beneficiaries are receiving.
“Improved population health management has resulted in less illness and decreased hospital admissions in military and civilian facilities alike,” said Capt. Maureen Padden, commanding officer, NHP.
The change from an ER to a UCC should have a minimal impact on the hospital’s beneficiaries. According to Padden, most of the services currently performed at the ER will be able to be done at the UCC. However, the UCC will not be able to receive ambulances or treat trauma cases. These types of emergency services will have to be treated at one of the civilian hospitals in the Pensacola area. Enrolled beneficiaries at NHP who require ICU or ER services after June will be covered under their existing TRICARE plan at one of the local civilian hospitals.
“These changes are aimed at recognizing the transformation of our requirements over time and will allow Navy Medicine to better utilize its limited resources to support the mission of the Navy,” said Padden, who has 26 years of medical experience with the Navy. “We are fortunate to have robust civilian medical facilities in Pensacola with whom we enjoy an outstanding working relationship.”
One thing that will not be changing at NHP is the focus on primary care. The hospital has a large beneficiary population that relies on NHP for health care including active duty service members, students at the training schools, retirees and family members.
“We are really good at providing primary care,” said Padden, “and we are going to continue to do that and even grow it if we can. We are also going to continue do a lot of the great things we are currently doing like orthopedic surgery and other surgical and medical subspecialties.”
The exact details of the UCC are not known at this time, but additional information on the future changes will be forthcoming.
“Change is always hard,” said Padden, “so one of my goals is to move us as an organization and as a community through this change.” “After all of this, I think [Naval Hospital Pensacola] is going to come out in a fantastic position because we have such great relationships with the community.”
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2013 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 117342 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,548 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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