FORT SILL, Okla. (April 14, 2016) -- With the upcoming Fort Sill reorganization affecting most areas of the installation, Reynolds Army Community Hospital (RACH) is perhaps facing the most noticeable changes.
Currently slated to transition from an community hospital to a health clinic, Reynolds will see a transfer of some services to area hospitals, but will not see a decrease in patients.
"We will still provide 80-90 percent of our patients' care at Reynolds with surgical and inpatient services provided by our local community TRICARE health care partners," said Col. Kenneth Lemons, RACH commander. "We will transition all of surgical and inpatient services from Reynolds to our partner hospitals in the Lawton and Duncan communities.
The colonel added continued Army reductions in personnel will not affect how RACH medical professionals provide health care.
"We are dedicated to the care and safety of our patients, and everyone will still have their normal doctor appointments and will still be able to get their prescriptions like they are used to," he said.
"The future of Reynolds as a health clinic will allow us to focus on the capabilities that will remain. Unlike many installations, Fort Sill is growing with two new battalions to come over the next 18 months," Lemons said, "Our goal as a health clinic is to maintain the current high level of care that our beneficiaries receive in our family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine clinics."
Additional capabilities that will remain are all out-patient diagnostic services, which include radiology and medical lab services, along with behavioral health, optometry, physical therapy, outpatient nutrition care, the sleep clinic and audiology, and public health services (occupational and community health). Reynolds will increase its referral management staff and nurse case managers to assist those patients who require specialty care with local health care partners.
"To prevent overloading the local network with too many appointments, we are working to keep all OB/GYN, orthopedic and opthamology, pre- and post-operative care at Reynolds," Lemons said. "This will allow our beneficiaries a continuity of care with their providers and enable us to maintain a limited number of surgical staff at Reynolds who will use the surgical suites at Comanche County Memorial Hospital and Southwest Medical Center.
He added with this arrangement, RACH can maintain its current access to care standards without having to increase the time between patient referrals and surgery dates.
The pre- and post-operative care plans have not yet been finalized by Army Medical Command, but the command team at Reynolds has met with the CEOs of Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Southwestern Medical Center and Duncan Regional Hospital to discuss the impact the transition will have on area communities and on the hospitals' resources.
As for the Reynolds Urgent Care Clinic (UCC), it will also see some changes.
"As with all areas of the hospital we had to look at the cost effectiveness of how we operate some areas," said Lemons. "We found that continuing to operate our urgent care clinic on the 24-hour-a-day model did not make sense due to the limited number of patients seen between midnight and 6 a.m.
"As a result on September 30 our UCC will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week, with no change to our EMS and ambulance service," he said.
Lemons also reinforced that for all emergency situations that cannot wait until 7 a.m. the next morning, people should call 911 or go to the emergency rooms at Comanche County Memorial Hospital or Southwestern Medical Center. He also reiterated that all TRICARE beneficiaries have access to TRICARE Online to book appointments with primary care providers for next day appointments and for after-hour non-emergency needs.
While Soldiers and their families will see little change to their routine health care at Reynolds, Lemons has received a number of questions and concerns regarding the second largest beneficiary population at the hospital.
"We see a large number of retirees from all services who are still eligible for TRICARE who have expressed some concern about their continuity of care." he said. "I want to assure our retiree population that Reynolds will still support those who have recently retired from active duty as well as our over-65 population who receive coverage through the TRICARE For Life program that works in conjunction with Medicare Part A and Part B."
The colonel spoke of a special patient of the RACH staff, who has been receiving care at Reynolds since 1960 and recently celebrated her 102nd birthday.
"That demonstrates the amazing continuity of care provided by Army Medicine and by Reynolds Army Community Hospital that will continue in the years to come," Lemons said.
As with any major transition, Reynolds will experience a reduction in the number of employees associated with the areas that will be transitioning to the network.
"I cannot speak to the exact number of employees Reynolds may lose due to the transition since there are still decisions that have yet to be made that will determine our course of action," he said. "What I can tell you is the Reynolds human resources department is working to ensure any employee who may be affected in the coming months may either transition to a different area within the hospital, relocate to another area if they would like to do so, or even transition to employment with one of the local area hospitals.
"The bottom line is Reynolds has to transition to stay relevant within the Army," said Lemons. "The coming changes are not unique to Fort Sill or Reynolds and are happening at other installations. I want to assure our Soldiers, family members and retirees Reynolds is not going anywhere. They will continue to receive the same high standard of care they have always received."
For more information regarding the transitions and changes coming to Reynolds Army Community Hospital and Fort Sill, visit the Fires Center of Excellence website at http://sill-www.army.mil/reorganization/ and select the Reorganization link under Latest News.
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