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Madigan Army Medical Center moves forward

Checking in with MAMC Commander Col. Ramona Fiorey

Madigan Army Medical Center Commander Col. Ramona Fiorey / photo courtesy of the DoD

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In early February, Col. Ramona Fiorey will mark six months as the 38th commander of Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

"I think things have been going very well, of course we've had challenges but nothing out of the ordinary for a military medical treatment center," she said.

For instance, while Madigan did have some staffing issues stemming from sequestration and furloughs, they have managed to bounce back.

"The real challenge starts with providing healthcare to more than 118,000 people - we have to make sure they can access our care when they need to, that they receive the care they need, and so on," she explained.

Indeed, as one of only three designated level-two trauma centers in the U.S. Army Medical Command, Madigan has almost 5,000 employees and schedules more than one million outpatient visits annually.

Fiorey cited the biggest success as the one that is most visible in the installation: the opening of an Army Wellness Center at Jensen Family Health and Fitness Center.

The center, which officially began working with servicemembers and dependents in October, was a collaborative effort between the hospital and the installation. The phenomenal environment, according to Fiorey, is one where people can start working on changes, from nutrition and exercise to biofeedback, which are all things that promote readiness and resiliency.

"When you look at the resiliency of soldiers you have to look at the resiliency of the family too," Fiorey stated. 

Fiorey also addressed the progress of one her first initiatives - to advance soldier-centered care, which allows the servicemember to have access to all of the components of care in one place.

"Soldier-centered care is exciting, but a challenge at the same time," she explained. "They need to make appointments, document things and have a central place that it is equipped to provide that care."

Until now, the soldier-centered medical home concept has only been implemented within the footprint of both the 555th Engineer Brigade and the 17th Fires Brigade; due to its success with those soldiers, Madigan is looking to expand soldier-centered care to other units on JBLM.

"Things shift a little bit all the time so you have to be flexible, but I have a pretty good handle on what we'll look at in the future and what we should spend our time and energy and resources working on," Fiorey shared.

For instance, Madigan staffers are trying to encourage patients to utilize the RelayHealth system. By enrolling in RelayHealth, patients can access secure messaging with their providers, view lab and test results and request prescription renewals, among other things. In conjunction with that, the hospital will also be launching a nurse advice line in the coming months.

"A lot of what we do is dependent on technology and using it to the maximum level," she said.

"Everything changes so fast, in terms of what the Army Medical Department needs to do, and we are very much in support of those programs and needs," Fiorey continued. "There are a lot of things in the pipeline."

Moving forward, the commander also stressed that Madigan is looking to increase beneficiary patient enrollment at its remote primary care clinics, including the South Sound Medical Home in Olympia and the one in Puyallup. 

"We have an amazing staff that's dedicated and talented, both military and civilians, and that doesn't change with the leadership so it puts us ahead of the game," concluded Fiorey. "We're ready to serve to even more patients."

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