Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan -- The Robert M. Casey Medical and Dental Clinic, a branch of U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, hosted a town hall meeting at the station chapel June 4 with senior health-care leaders to discuss the health-care concerns of service members and their families aboard the air station.
Rear Adm. Christine M. Bruzek-Kohler, commander of Navy Medicine West and Naval Medical Center San Diego, Rear Adm. Richard R. Jeffries, medical officer of the Marine Corps, Navy Capt. Raquel Cruz Bono, chief of staff, deputy director, TRICARE Management Activity, along with other senior leaders and subject-matter experts, were present to answer questions from community members.
“Our mission is to listen to you and find out what’s going on, what the real concerns are and see what we can do about it,” said Jeffries, medical officer of the Marine Corps.
Town hall meetings were first held at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Command Twentynine Palms, and a combined meeting for Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island to discuss the specific problems with access to and availability of medical services.
Due to the success of those meetings, gatherings of the same sort are taking place for Marine Corps Bases Japan.
Some of the concerns voiced by community members at the meeting were issues such as the desire for an obstetrics and gynecology practitioner aboard the air station, hardships associated with medical evacuation procedures, and the development of the Educational and Developmental Intervention Services program here.
“We have to work out a reasonable way to have resources here for what people need, use civilian resources as possible and have what other kinds of support that people need,” said Cmdr. William Wike, officer-in-charge at the branch health clinic.
To address the OB/GYN issue, Wike stated that the construction of a new family health care facility is currently being planned by senior medical staff and construction is slated to begin in 2012.
Some suggestions were made as a temporary solution to the problem until the construction of the new facility is completed.
The family practitioners here are fully capable of doing female exams, and local resources, such as Dr. Takashi Shoji, are available, said Wike. Also, community members can take advantage of visiting specialists from Yokosuka, such as mental health specialists, OB/GYN specialists, and ears, nose and throat specialists by talking to their primary care doctor.
One community member told of the problems she encountered when she had to undergo a medevac. Her husband was deployed, so she was left with the choice to either leave her child with someone or pay out of pocket to bring her child with her.
Capt. Kevin D. Moore, commanding officer of USNH Yokosuka, suggested community members in need of similar assistance should contact the local American Red Cross chapter. They have several programs to help families in times of need and can provide additional links to assistance if necessary.
Another concern was the replacement of Cmdr. Mark Russell, a psychologist with EDIS, who is retiring.
“EDIS is a program for children 0-18 years with developmental or emotional disabilities,” said Lt. Linda Amell, an occupational therapist and the EDIS division head here.
“We are trying to bring in more support and currently looking for approval for the position to be filled by a civilian,” said Amell. “We are also looking at several options to further develop the EDIS program to benefit families,” added Amell.
Several health care service changes are already in the planning process or scheduled to take place in the near future, but community feedback is a necessity to continue improving the services aboard the air station. Community members are encouraged to attend town hall meetings in the future to voice their concerns.
There are a variety of other methods to provide feedback, such as using the Interactive Customer Evaluation program, submitting in-clinic comments, and completing the customer satisfaction surveys mailed home after each visit.
“Whatever methods you have to give feedback are actually relayed to the places that need it so we can take it as far as we need,” said Moore.
“Your input, your statements, your feedback is indispensable for us to do better,” Moore said.