YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Sixteen medical personnel from here reported aboard the USNS Mercy this spring. Another 20 to 30 leave this summer for the Expeditionary Medical Facility in Kuwait. Others pull duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and places far from their normal duty stations at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka.
This means patients need an extra dose of patience as Yokosuka’s hospital faces summer staffing shortages, hospital officials say.
It may take up to two weeks to get an appointment, but the hospital is working to "balance" patient-centered care with the Navy’s requirements for the global war on terrorism, Cmdr. Karen Kasowski said last week.
"Every summer is hard, but we have a larger requirement this summer," said Kasowski, the hospital’s director of health care business, about sailors deploying as individual augmentees. "We’re losing a steady stream of people."
Currently down 50 staffers, the hospital will lose up to 72 people this summer, Kasowski said. Fully staffed, Yokosuka’s hospital has 800 people — 1,200 counting staff from the hospital’s six branch clinics at Negishi Housing Area, Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Sasebo Naval Base, Chinhae Naval Base in South Korea and Diego Garcia.
When the order comes from above that people are needed, Lt. Layra Avalos looks at the hospital staff to determine qualifications, but leaves the final personnel determinations to the chain of command, she wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes. She also works with hospitals in Guam and Okinawa to "cross level" the assignments, she said.
"I am required to multi-task, just like everyone else. However, when I receive assignments from Navy Medicine West, that takes precedence over anything else," Avalos said. "The juggling is not easy, but prioritizing makes it go by smoother."
More than 100 corpsman, doctors and support personnel have deployed from the hospital since 2006.
"We know it’s a matter of when we’ll go, not if we’ll go," Kasowski said. "But we don’t control when [deployments] happen."
Luckily, the number of patients dips in the summer, as ships leave for cruises and families vacation stateside, Kasowski said.
But for those staying in Yokosuka, she offers this advice: Don’t miss your appointment, and call if you need to cancel.
Yokosuka’s Family Medical Clinic, the portal for most patients, will be one of the departments hardest hit by summer deployments and — on average — loses about 100 appointment slots monthly due to no shows, she said.
Various hospital improvements could mitigate the staffing shortfalls, as patients can now conduct some hospital business from their home computers.
Patients can order prescription refills through the hospital’s Web site. Hospital bills can also be paid online. Tricare patients can schedule appointments through Tricare’s Web site.
And hospital registration is now a "one-stop shop" for newcomers who come to the hospital during the area orientation brief, Kasowski said.
She doesn’t anticipate a spike in emergency room visits for those impatient for an appointment or too many complaints, she said.
"Most patients are involved in the military, and they know that [deployment to war zones] is what we’re about," Kasowski said.
