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Organization, Administration Crucial to Success of CP09

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090416-27
Release Date: 4/16/2009 4:54:00 PM

By Airman 1st Class Danielle Grannan, USNS Comfort Public Affairs

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (NNS) -- As many people have witnessed firsthand, hospitals can be hectic and confusing places. The organization of the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is crucial to the success of the Continuing Promise 2009 (CP09) mission.

The Patient Administration staff is responsible for the movement and tracking of patients while in the care of Comfort's crew.

"Basically, we keep track of patients," said Air Force Senior Airman Adrianna Ortner, a health service manager aboard Comfort. "We admit patients through the gate, verify information for the medical providers, talk to the people on the ship to schedule patients and make sure the patient has been cleared before they actually get on the ship."

The ship's medical treatment facility offers 250 patient beds, four operating rooms, X-ray machines, Computerized Axial Tomography, or CT, scanners, a pharmacy, dental suites, and physical therapy among other services. The trick is getting the right patient to the right place at the right time for the treatment and services they need.

The process begins as patients enter the medical site, where they meet representatives from patient administration. The patient administration representative asks for a referral slip from their local doctor or hospital and for information about the nature of their condition. Then wristbands are given to the patients that indicate the department they are going to see - dental, optometry, general medicine, pediatrics, etc.

"We're the first line for getting people where they need to go," said Hospitalman Apprentice Victor Torres. "We're also acting as the filter between the ship and the shore."

After the patient's exam, the doctors and nurses decide whether he or she needs to be treated on the ship, and if so, as an inpatient or an outpatient. If the treatment can be completed that day, the patient is transported to the ship. If the needed treatment is considered inpatient care, such as surgery, the patient is asked to return the next day with enough clothes and personal items for the time they will be on the ship.

Before anyone will be admitted onto the ship, they must pass a screen for tuberculosis (TB). Each patient is allowed one escort, either family or friend, for their stay on the ship. The escorts are also subject to TB screening.

These tasks may seem daunting to some, but the people who have accepted the challenge here are grateful for the opportunity.

"These people are getting something valuable to them- their health," said Ortner. "I'm happy to have been able to put my own time aside to help give that to them."

Ortner isn't the only administrator who feels this way.

"I've always wanted to be able to help people," said Torres. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to give part of myself to help others and to help strengthen the relationship between the United States and Haiti."

Hospital Ship USNS Comfort is deployed on a four month humanitarian mission that offers both inpatient and outpatient medical treatment to locals in all seven countries it visits as part of Continuing Promise 2009.

For more news from USNS Comfort, visit www.navy.mil/local/tah20/.