Patient-centered medical home opens at Winn

By Michelle L. Gordon, WACH Public AffairsAugust 25, 2011

Patient-centered medical home opens at Winn
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT STEWART, Ga. - Winn Army Community Hospital celebrated the grand-opening of the White Medical Home during a ceremony, Aug. 19.

The White Medical Home is the third and final medical home to open within the Family Practice Clinic. The Blue and Red Medical Homes opened earlier this year. Family Practice patients are now assigned to a core team that consists of a provider and two licensed practical nurses, as well as a home which includes a dedicated staff of registered nurses, medics, a medical support assistant and a care coordinator. Everyone on the medical home staff partners with the patient to create a proactive, individualized health-care plan.

"Patient-centered medical homes allow us to proactively manage the health and wellness of our patients, provide early identification and treatment for those in need, and stabilize them so they can be productive, happy and healthy," said Brig.Gen. W. Bryan Gamble, deputy commander of the Southern Regional Medical Command who attended the ceremony.

Clinical Analyst Andy Stewart was part of the team assigned to implement the medical home concept at Winn nearly two years ago. After visiting other installations and researching the process, he said he realized very quickly that this concept is not new.

"We're focusing on how to make the patient experience better than what it has been in the past," Stewart said. "Instead of having patients take a number and processing them through, we're listening to them and deciding as a group the best way to take care of them."

"This is simple," he said. "This is really just the way you're supposed to take care of people."

Eventually all primary care clinics on Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield will become medical homes.