Tripler patients feeling effects of deployments
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
As more than 4,000 Hawai'i-based troops have begun to deploy overseas, people in the military medical system served by Tripler Army Medical Center on O'ahu have felt the effect in longer waits for medical services. And they can expect more disruptions, officials said.
Advertiser library photo • July 25, 2003
Hospital spokeswoman Margaret Tippy said the biggest troop movement from Hawai'i since the Vietnam War is causing patient delays and a potential shortage of blood donors.
Dr. Daniel Hall examines Nonel Lumahan, 11. Tripler services are being stretched as thousands of troops undergo pre-deployment screenings.
Tippy said that by March more than 8,000 troops will have gone through Tripler medical screenings to prepare for deployment. She said the pink hillside medical center has coordinated putting more than half of those troops through extensive medical preparations.
Of more than 4,000 screened so far, Tippy said fewer than 100 soldiers were stopped from deploying for medical reasons. She said the scope of the effort is extensive: hearing and vision tests, blood tests, mental-health screenings, prescriptions written for six-month supplies of medications and accompanying paperwork.
She said staff and visitors to the medical center have become accustomed to turning the corner and finding hundreds of soldiers in desert camouflage filling a clinic as they complete medical preparations for their new mission.
Pfc. Jarod Myers, 19, is headed for Iraq with Company C, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment. Myers said in a statement released by Tripler that the system worked well for him.
"It's pretty quick. I had a problem and had to be seen at Tripler and they got me right in," Myers said.
The big push to process so many over several weeks' time has affected others in the military medical system through postponed appointments and longer waits at the pharmacy.
Peak waiting times for pharmacy services at Tripler stretched from seven to 30 minutes and some patients have been treated away from Tripler through a referral system because they can't get in to see their usual healthcare providers, she said.
She said more than 25 physicians, nurses, and technicians from Tripler have or are getting ready to deploy in support of Iraq and Afghanistan missions.
Tripler staff is also calling for federal employees, retirees and their family members to donate blood to help make up for the donors lost as the thousands of troops deploy.
Tippy said there is no shortage of blood, other than the usual seasonal dip in donations. She said military officials are planning ahead.
Tripler's Blood Donor Center supplies blood products for the Pacific Regional Medical Command as well as support units deploying from the Pacific. The center asks for donations from the people it serves. In emergencies, Tippy said that the center can and has worked with the civilian Blood Bank of Hawai'i.
Maj. Sheryl Dunn, chief of the Blood Donor Center, said the center needs about 300 units of blood each month. "When we don't have enough donations, we have to buy units from the National Blood Exchange on the Mainland at a cost of up to $380 per unit," Dunn said.
The Tripler donor center is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Wing A, 2nd Floor, Room 2A207 Oceanside. Only federal employees — military and civilian, retirees and their family members can donate.
Call 433-6148 for more information.
Even after March when the initial deployment wave is scheduled to be completed, there will be disruptions to the routine, Tippy said, as some troops return and others leave.
"It's a real change for all our beneficiaries," Tippy said. "We're just asking the community to bear with us."
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
