PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. (July 11, 2022) – The California Medical Detachment’s new Readiness Rodeos ensure service members at the Presidio of Monterey are medically ready to deploy by allowing them to complete all their medical requirements in one visit.
Lt. Col. Kenneth Reed, commander of CAL MED, said most of the Presidio of Monterey Army Health Clinic’s patients are service members studying at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, as well as the Naval Postgraduate School, and it can be difficult for them to find time in their class schedules for medical appointments.
Reed said they started holding the events two months ago because they wanted to enable students to take care of all their medical requirements in one visit instead of five.
“It’s less of a hassle for the students,” Reed said. “I’m trying to be more proactive, and also show that we’re working with our patients, we’re listening to them and we want to get them as ready as possible.”
The rodeos focus on required immunizations, audiology and vision tests, periodic health assessments and the annual HIV test required of every service member, Reed said.
CAL MED has held four rodeos so far, Reed said, and CAL MED personnel review each one afterward to see what they can improve for the next one.
DLIFLC students are service members from all branches of the military, and the rodeos focus on service members by branch, Reed said.
The June 24 Readiness Rodeo helped members of the Marine Corps Detachment, and Marines who participated said they found it helpful.
“It’s really great to be able to get in here when they get everyone who has had trouble scheduling,” said Lance Cpl. Carter Quinn, who needed to complete his audiology exam.
Likewise, Lance Cpl. William Denisoncouch said his command would be happy that he was able to get a required immunization and his annual audiology exam.
“It’s a pretty good opportunity to just get it all handled,” Denisoncouch said. “It just cleared my individual medical record—readiness stuff—so I’m deployable, which is one of the only things I have left to do administratively for my record. It’s pretty nice to have that handled and not have to worry about it anymore.”
Reed said the clinic plans to continue holding the rodeos every month based on staffing requirements and availability.
The goal is to keep all service members above 90% medically ready, Reed said, which is in keeping with the U.S. Army Surgeon General’s focus to provide a medically ready force.
Reed said he encourages patients to reach out to the clinic and provide feedback.
Agustin Rams, the clinic’s patient advocate, is available at the clinic to speak with patients, and is also available by email at agustin.j.rams.civ@mail.mil or by phone at (831) 884-1159.
In addition, patients can use the clinic’s Interactive Customer Evaluation, or ICE, system at https://ice.disa.mil, and Reed said he personally reviews each comment.
“We want to make sure that our patients know we’re listening to them, fixing things and helping them to become more medically ready,” Reed said.
CAL MED falls under Madigan Army Medical Center / Puget Sound Market (Defense Health Agency) in Tacoma, Washington. Together they are part of Regional Health Command—Pacific, one of four U.S. Army Medical Command Regional Health Commands.
Social Sharing