April 2023 — MHCE
News from MHCE APRIL 2023 EDITION Military Leader, Astronaut from Anne Arundel Inducted into Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame See page 16 Monthly Newsletter Navy Takes Another Look at Bremerton Hospital Cuts After Lawmaker Cites Miscarriage, Readiness Issues The lawmaker whose district includes Naval Hospital Bremerton has challenged the Navy over years of downsizing and staffing cuts at the facility, saying it has not only hurt readiness but also endangered patients. "I had a service member who said that she was pregnant. ... With the closure of labor and delivery, she ended up seeking care from a local provider where she sat for eight hours in a waiting room and miscarried," Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington in an interview Thursday. In other cases, military personnel slated to ship out could not get required health reviews in time due to staffing shortages at Bremerton, and other patients were diverted to a local hospital where ambulances were sometimes forced to wait for hours, according to Kilmer and local media reports. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro now says the service will review the downsizing, which it had said was necessary due to a shrinking service member around the facility. population The problems at Bremerton's hospital WWW.MHCE.US have been brewing for years. In 2014, the Navy announcedthe shuttering of the hospital's emergency room and replacing it with an urgent care clinic to handle non-life threatening medical concerns. More downsizing followed, including closure of the labor and delivery unit. The story at Bremerton -- which serves the Navy's third largest concentration of sailors and equipment -- is not unique, either. Last April, Military.com reported that similar cuts at the naval hospital at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, have led to long commutes and weekslong waits for expectant mothers. Kilmer said that, during a recently held 15-person roundtable with sailors, the participants all had Continued on page 8
