Sharing Agreement
Fayetteville VA Medical Center Director Elizabeth Goolsby and Womack Army Medical Center Commander Col. Brian Canfield sign the charter establishing the Joint Resource Sharing Committee.
With the stroke of a pen, the Fayetteville VA Medical Center took a big step toward achieving their goal of being good stewards of the taxpayers' resources.
Elizabeth Goolsby, Fayetteville VAMC director, and Col. Brian Canfield, commander of Womack Army Medical Center on Fort Bragg, signed a charter Oct. 14 establishing the Joint Committee for Resource Sharing. The committee, made up of members of both organizations, was established to research and establish opportunities to utilize both facilities to better serve both the active duty military population and area Veterans.
While the committee was officially established with the charter signing, resource sharing has already been actively taking place for some time to the benefit of both organizations.
Respiratory therapists from Fayetteville VAMC have been trained by Army medical personnel on how to properly intubate patients who need breathing assistance. The training involved actually inserting breathing tubes for patients in the operating room under the supervision of Army trainers. Another round of training will be taking place again in the near future.
Since turnabout is fair play, the Fayetteville VAMC has hosted Womack optometry residents for training sessions as well. Other Womack staff members will soon be coming to the VA to learn techniques for dealing with disruptive patients.
One of the best examples of resource sharing, though, will take place within the next few weeks. Womack will be closing their mental health ward for several months for renovations. While that work goes on, many of Womack's patients will be admitted to Fayetteville's mental health ward, and Army providers will be working alongside VA providers to ensure proper care is received by all of the patients.
Now the resource sharing committee is looking to the future for more extensive joint opportunities. Work is already underway between the VA and the Army on establishing an electronic medical record system that would be compatible with both organizations. This would allow a virtual lifetime electronic record so Soldiers health data could easily be transferred to the VA when necessary – for example when compensation and pension exams are accomplished or when the Soldier leaves the military and transitions to the VA health care system.
On a more local level, talks are underway to see if a joint rehabilitation center can be built in the community. When operational, the center could be used by active duty military members, their dependents and Veterans receiving health care through the VA for physical rehabilitation following accidents, injuries or illness.
There is also talk of possibly establishing a joint cardiac catheterization lab in the community, and of the VA utilizing Womack's CT scanner after duty hours.
The overall goal of the committee is to ensure federal resources are utilized in the best way possible, and to ensure that Veterans and Soldiers alike enjoy the best access to the finest medical care available anywhere. And so far, they're off to a good start.
