Ret10Echo
06-10-2009, 04:29
Army closing some special care units
June 9, 2009
By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Army plans to reduce the size of some of its 36 wounded warrior units by the end of the month and close three by October after tightening standards to stem a flood of patients, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The warrior transition units were created in 2007 to address reports of substandard care for wounded, ill and injured soldiers. The number of soldiers in these units has dropped from a high of more than 12,000 last June to about 9,500 currently as the Army screened patients more closely.
The Army announced last month that the falling numbers meant it would close three units at installations in Kansas and Alabama and reduce the size of four others at posts in Kansas, Georgia, Washington and the Fort Campbell installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Two units in Virginia will merge into a larger one.
Robert Moore, a spokesman for the Warrior Transition Command, said Tuesday the size reductions are expected to be finished around July 1 and the closings around Oct. 1.
Commanders say the decrease is because the Army last year imposed stricter screening procedures for admitting soldiers into the units.
Previously, the Army automatically sent any ill or injured soldier who needed more than six months of recovery to a warrior transition unit. The soldiers were assigned officers and enlisted leaders to manage their medical care and they were assisted by medical staff who helped them through recovery and rehabilitation.
But the result was a flood of patients into the units, some of whom had simple injuries like torn ligaments or needed routine surgery like appendectomies. That detracted from the care of more serious cases, according to Col. Jimmie Keenan, the chief of staff who oversees the units for the Army.
"For those soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that had more complex cases, resources were being pulled away," Keenan said in a news release.
The process was restricted last year to allow in only soldiers who needed help managing a complex medical case and who needed more than six months of recovery.
The new units came in the wake of revelations about poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., including shoddy housing and bureaucratic delays for outpatients there. Army officials have said closing some and reducing the size of others should help ease staff shortages in the units. The units are required to have a certain ratio of soldiers to medical and command staff and that will not change under the restructuring plans.
The unit at Fort Campbell was staffed to care for 1,000 soldiers, but staff will be reduced to handle no more than 800 soldiers. Army officials said the staffing reductions still leave more than enough workers for the units' current population levels, allowing room if the number increases again.
Lt. Col. Natalie Lonkard, the commander of Fort Campbell's unit, said the number of soldiers in the unit decreased from nearly 800 last summer to 420 currently. About a third of the soldiers have combat-related injuries and about 50 percent on average are able to return to active duty, she said.
"One of the things that is driving this decrease in the size of the warrior transition unit is the fact that we've put soldiers back out into their units to heal," said Lt. Col. Mike Heimall, a deputy commander at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell.
Heimall said reducing the size of the unit has allowed Fort Campbell to shift some of the medical staff to other areas. He said these nurse case managers will work with soldiers who have injuries, but are still assigned to their original units. Typically, those soldiers are left behind when their brigade deploys.
"One of the things that was going on in the Army was that we had an awful lot of folks in the physical disability system who were in units like the 101st Airborne Division and nobody was managing them," Heimall said. "There was no forward progress."
Now the soldiers will have a nurse case manager at the installation that can help guide them through their medical care, he said.
The downsizing will not affect Fort Campbell's plans for a building complex on post for soldiers injured in battle making the switch back to active duty or out of the military. The post got $43 million in economic stimulus funds for the project.
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On the Net:
U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command: http://www.army.mil/info/organization/offices/eoh/wtc/
June 9, 2009
By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Army plans to reduce the size of some of its 36 wounded warrior units by the end of the month and close three by October after tightening standards to stem a flood of patients, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The warrior transition units were created in 2007 to address reports of substandard care for wounded, ill and injured soldiers. The number of soldiers in these units has dropped from a high of more than 12,000 last June to about 9,500 currently as the Army screened patients more closely.
The Army announced last month that the falling numbers meant it would close three units at installations in Kansas and Alabama and reduce the size of four others at posts in Kansas, Georgia, Washington and the Fort Campbell installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Two units in Virginia will merge into a larger one.
Robert Moore, a spokesman for the Warrior Transition Command, said Tuesday the size reductions are expected to be finished around July 1 and the closings around Oct. 1.
Commanders say the decrease is because the Army last year imposed stricter screening procedures for admitting soldiers into the units.
Previously, the Army automatically sent any ill or injured soldier who needed more than six months of recovery to a warrior transition unit. The soldiers were assigned officers and enlisted leaders to manage their medical care and they were assisted by medical staff who helped them through recovery and rehabilitation.
But the result was a flood of patients into the units, some of whom had simple injuries like torn ligaments or needed routine surgery like appendectomies. That detracted from the care of more serious cases, according to Col. Jimmie Keenan, the chief of staff who oversees the units for the Army.
"For those soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that had more complex cases, resources were being pulled away," Keenan said in a news release.
The process was restricted last year to allow in only soldiers who needed help managing a complex medical case and who needed more than six months of recovery.
The new units came in the wake of revelations about poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., including shoddy housing and bureaucratic delays for outpatients there. Army officials have said closing some and reducing the size of others should help ease staff shortages in the units. The units are required to have a certain ratio of soldiers to medical and command staff and that will not change under the restructuring plans.
The unit at Fort Campbell was staffed to care for 1,000 soldiers, but staff will be reduced to handle no more than 800 soldiers. Army officials said the staffing reductions still leave more than enough workers for the units' current population levels, allowing room if the number increases again.
Lt. Col. Natalie Lonkard, the commander of Fort Campbell's unit, said the number of soldiers in the unit decreased from nearly 800 last summer to 420 currently. About a third of the soldiers have combat-related injuries and about 50 percent on average are able to return to active duty, she said.
"One of the things that is driving this decrease in the size of the warrior transition unit is the fact that we've put soldiers back out into their units to heal," said Lt. Col. Mike Heimall, a deputy commander at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell.
Heimall said reducing the size of the unit has allowed Fort Campbell to shift some of the medical staff to other areas. He said these nurse case managers will work with soldiers who have injuries, but are still assigned to their original units. Typically, those soldiers are left behind when their brigade deploys.
"One of the things that was going on in the Army was that we had an awful lot of folks in the physical disability system who were in units like the 101st Airborne Division and nobody was managing them," Heimall said. "There was no forward progress."
Now the soldiers will have a nurse case manager at the installation that can help guide them through their medical care, he said.
The downsizing will not affect Fort Campbell's plans for a building complex on post for soldiers injured in battle making the switch back to active duty or out of the military. The post got $43 million in economic stimulus funds for the project.
__
On the Net:
U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command: http://www.army.mil/info/organization/offices/eoh/wtc/