Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) awarded a contract to Ridgecrest Regional Hospital (RRH) on Sept. 28 to provide standby medical services for base personnel, including emergency, urgent care, intensive care, and associated surgical, diagnostic, and general services, as well as labor and delivery.
The contract, secured using the Navy’s Emergency and Extraordinary Expense (EEE) authority, ensures health care access for military and civilian Department of Defense (DoD) personnel.
RRH is the only full-service health care facility within 90 miles’ driving distance from Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake. Recent reductions in healthcare services at the hospital, including the suspension of labor and delivery services in March, resulted in an immediate deficiency in available care in the area, negatively impacting those working on the installation. A single unit stationed at NAWS China Lake saw more than five times as many lost work days due to out-of-town appointments in the last year than a comparable unit situated elsewhere in Southern California.
“China Lake is intentionally isolated – it has to be,” said Rear Adm. Keith Hash, NAWCWD commander. “What we do here is vital to our nation’s defense. Rural and remote locations allow the Navy and DoD to safely conduct significant research, development and test missions without endangering those we’ve sworn to defend.”
To address the growing challenge caused by reduced access to quality, local care, NAWCWD and other Navy leadership engaged with government partners at all levels and eventually secured funding for a time-limited contract to restore and maintain access to care for those doing critical work in the remote, isolated installation. Although the solution is short-term, it allows time for more permanent solutions to be sought.
“Our nation’s warfighters, and the civilians who support them every day, require a basic quality of life to be able to continue deterring aggression and defending our shores,” said Hash. “A lack of access to routine, specialty, and emergency health care is an existential threat to the workforce, their families, and by extension, the nation.”
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2024 13:08 |
| Story ID: | 482223 |
| Location: | CHINA LAKE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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