LIHU‘E — Free medical care is coming to Kaua‘i from late February through early March, said Col. Jerry Arends, director of the Innovative Readiness Training Medical Deployments. “This service is for all the people,” Arends said. “There is no eligibility
LIHU‘E — Free medical care is coming to Kaua‘i from late February through early March, said Col. Jerry Arends, director of the Innovative Readiness Training Medical Deployments.
“This service is for all the people,” Arends said. “There is no eligibility requirement. People who need medical service can just drop in.”
Dr. Dileep Bal of the state Department of Health’s Kaua‘i office said the IRT program is coming to the Garden Isle through a joint venture of the DOH office, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his New Day Initiative, and the military.
Labelled Tropic Care Kaua‘i 2012, up to 350 clinical and non-clinical personnel will converge on Kaua‘i in a deployment exercise. Residents in need of free medical attention will be the beneficiary of this exercise.
Last week, representatives of the Tropic Care Kaua‘i 2012 Joint and Total Force team were on island to scope out sites in anticipation of the team’s arrival next year.
Preliminary plans call for the establishment of service centers where residents from all parts of the island can take advantage of the Tropic Care team’s offerings, Bal said.
Tropic Kaua‘i members will include family practitioners and supporting staff, dentists and support personnel, optometrists and staff, pharmacy and medical logistics personnel and such allied health specialties as nutrition and behavioral health, base services support, communications and public affairs personnel, Arends said.
These professionals will work closely with local civilian health workers, civil authorities, private not-for-profit organizations and community volunteers who provide logistics and Distinguished Visitor support, local familiarization and operation environment context to the visiting teams, states a DOH release.
The arrival of the team representatives — including Capt. Karen Trueblood, the Pentagon’s IRT director — was part of the familiarization process.
During an IRT deployment to a town in Alabama, more than 2,000 cases were handled in eight days from a population of 120 people in the town, Arends said.
“People come from all around when they hear of an IRT program,” he said. “These people are professionals in the everyday world. They’re also part of the National Guard and reservists and bring their skills with them on the deployment exercise.”
The group coming to Kaua‘i will basically come from Fargo, N.D., Battle Creek, Mich., and Richmond, Va., but will also include personnel from around the country.
Bal noted that if this program proves successful, Abercrombie intends to expand it to other islands.
“This service is open to the community and to organizations representing the community where there are gaps in (medical) care,” Ahrends said. “Hawai‘i figures high in this area. There is a shortage of health care, especially on the Neighbor Islands, enabling the state to request care from the military to fill the gaps in care of medically underserved communities.”
In addition to the community centers, Ahrends said there will be outreach teams going to visit schools with information about nutrition and medical service teams being deployed for home services. He added there is also a two-day stand-down for veterans.
In preparation for the arrival of Tropic Care Kaua‘i 2012, the DOH has run the required two legal notices requesting local care providers to come forward with input on the impact of the Tropic Care team arrival, Bal said.
Once on Kaua‘i, Ahrends said the team will have little impact on lodging and service facilities because this is an exercise in deployment.
The personnel will be housed at the Kapa‘a and Hanapepe armories and will have equipment including mobile kitchens, showers and other facilities.
A base of operations will be established and the satellite bases will service the various communities. For instance, Bal said if an eyeglass prescription is needed in Hanalei, the information is relayed to the central base where lens grinders will make the required prescription glasses and the completed glasses will be delivered out to the satellite base for the customer.
“Come one, come all,” Bal said. “This service is for everyone, compliments of the Pentagon.”
