Photo By Sgt. Jofenell RuizFebus | Military and Veteran Healthcare Symposium hosted by the 1st Mission Support Command at...... read more read more
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Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico - The 1st Mission Support Command (MSC) kicked off the first of its kind Military and Veteran Healthcare Symposium for the island of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands last Wednesday, September 5th. This summit brought together leaders of the military healthcare community in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including the Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, and Veterans Health Administration to share best practices and innovate processes to tackle current and future challenges.
The goal of the two-day event is to promote interagency cooperation that results in easier processes for healthcare providers and better access and services for patients.
This event underscores the U.S. Army and especially the U.S. Army Reserve’s commitment to national defense and preparedness in the region. The event hosted distinguished speakers, such as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Dr. Lester Martinez, the Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Administration Hospital in Puerto Rico, and various healthcare experts from different service component clinics, such as the U.S. Coast Guard Clinic in Aguadilla and the Puerto Rico Military Entry Processing Station (MEPS).
“It is mutually beneficial for all stakeholders to understand the current state of DoD health services in Puerto Rico and how we can identify ways to enhance access, service and quality of health care for our beneficiaries,” said Dr. Martinez during his opening remarks.
The events started with a symposium where medical experts, administrators, and leaders of Soldiers in the community spoke with a panel comprised of the directors/supervisors of the treatment facilities currently available for the diverse military and veteran community on the islands. They discussed everything from retiree access to healthcare in remote locations, the status of current Active Duty and Reserve Military Treatment Facilities (MTF), to friction points with current medical record systems potentially slowing down the processing of recruits.
The U.S. territories have their challenges, not just due to the ‘tyranny of distance’ from the contiguous United States (CONUS), but also due to how healthcare and healthcare insurance providers conduct business differently on the islands and myriads of other reasons due to legal particularities of U.S. territories. However, the services see these challenges as not as hinderances, but instead as opportunities to tailor care for the specific populations of Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands.
The first day wrapped up with escorted visits of the MTFs on Fort Buchanan and a large effort to collect vast amounts of information and inputs from the symposium participants.
“We are proud of the first day’s work, but still have a great deal more data to gather and analyze for us to propose a unified set of proposals to stakeholders in the joint force’s Military Health System,” said Brig. Gen. Carlos Gorbea, Commanding General of the 1st MSC. He concluded, “Day one is done, but we have many more days ahead to help those who served before us and lay the groundwork for those who will serve after us.”
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2024 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 480324 |
| Location: | FORT BUCHANAN, PR |
| Web Views: | 115 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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