PDA

View Full Version : Military connections help staff personalize care



thedrifter
06-25-07, 06:28 AM
Last Updated: 6:56 am | Monday, June 25, 2007
Military connections help staff personalize care
BY HOWARD WILKINSON | HWILKINSON@ENQUIRER.COM

At the Cincinnati VA Medical Center's clinic for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the young man or woman returning home from war is going to find something they would not have in most other medical offices - treatment by staff members who can speak the language of the military.

All of the staff members at the Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom clinic have military connections in their backgrounds. Either they served in the military or close family members did.

The clinic started off as a one-day-a-week operation two years ago, but now is a five-day-a-week clinic, with a staff that has no other duties.

So far, nearly 1,800 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have come through the doors seeking treatment for everything from combat wounds, physical ailments and emotional disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder. The numbers are likely to go up, especially if Congress passes legislation extending the current two-year eligibility of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to free VA health care to five years.

Among the people the clinic's clients will see are:

RICK DAVIS

Every veteran who comes to the clinic sees this 22-year Navy veteran first. His job title is "point of contact" - meaning he enrolls the veterans for health care, gathers basic information from them and makes on-the-spot determinations about whether veterans need to be seen right away.

He said that of the many clerical positions he has had in the VA, this is his favorite.

"These people volunteered to go to war," Davis said. "They weren't drafted. What I want to say to them in my job is that you've done your duty; you can rest now. It's our job to take care of you, so you can just relax."

EMMA BUNAG-BOEHM

She is, her co-workers say, the clinic's "house mother."

A nurse practitioner, she is the first to examine Iraq and Afghanistan veterans once they come in, giving them a thorough physical exam and determining what kind of specialized care they need - physical therapy, orthopedics, neurology - and makes referrals to doctors in the VA Medical Center, just like any primary care physician would.

She also has a keen eye for veterans with psychological problems.

"I can be looking at a fellow with a bad knee and I hear him talk about having trouble sleeping, being angry all the time, having trouble at home," said Bunag-Boehm, who was once an Army nurse in her native Philippines.

Dozens of patients have formed strong bonds with Bunag-Boehm. The walls of her office are covered with mementos they have brought her; and she keeps a "Wall of Honor" in the hallway with photographs of many of them.

"They bring me pictures of their new babies; they invite me to their weddings," Bunag-Boehm said. "I am part of their families."

KAREN CUTRIGHT

Cutright is the program manager for the clinic and a social worker specializing in mental health. She has counseled as many as 20 male and female military veterans a week, all of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or other emotional issues stemming from their deployments to a war zone.

She has never served in the military, but as the wife of a soldier and daughter of a Marine, she understands the military mentality.

"I know how to talk to pig-headed Marines and to Army brats," Cutright said. "I can speak their language."

Over the past two years, she has seen more and more veterans - particularly reservists and National Guard soldiers - who have had multiple deployments to Iraq.

A number of veterans from the Ohio National Guard's 216th Engineer Battalion, now based in Woodlawn, which lost three soldiers in Iraq and had 23 wounded in combat, ended up in the clinic for a variety of physical and emotional issues, Cutright said.

But the worst damage she has seen, physically and psychologically, was to the Marine reservists of Columbus-based Lima Company, which lost 23 members in combat in 2005. At least a dozen Lima Company Marines, from all over Ohio, have been treated at the clinic.

DAVID ROBY

Three years ago, David Roby was a sergeant with the Ohio National Guard's Middletown-based 324th Military Police Company, coming home from an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq.

In civilian life, he was a professional social worker, which is why he was hired by the VA soon after returning home to be a counselor for the center's readjustment counseling service.

In December, he changed jobs, joining the Iraq/Afghanistan Clinic as its representative from the PTSD and Anxiety Disorders Division.

At the clinic, Roby meets with veterans suffering from PTSD and other emotional disorders and makes a determination on what kind of treatment they need.

"For one person, it might be group therapy. For another, it might be one-on-one counseling with me or another therapist," Roby said. "Some others might do best if they go to the residential treatment program in Fort Thomas.

"My job is to get the person to the service that will do him the most good."

Ellie