ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Veterans in acute suicidal crisis can receive care at any emergency health care facility at no cost under a new Department of Veterans Affairs policy.

Effective Jan. 17, the new policy provides veterans access to acute care, including inpatient or crisis residential care for up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days, according to a news release from the VA. Veterans do not need to be enrolled in the VA system to use this benefit. 

Six more military medical teams will be mobilized to help civilian hospitals stressed by a spike in COVID-19 cases, President Joe Biden announced Jan. 13.

Hundreds of medical service members are already augmenting hospital staffs across the country, in addition to thousands of National Guard troops who are supporting COVID-19 efforts in 49 states.

COVID-19 is “one of the most formidable enemies America has ever faced,” Biden said. 

The command team for Army Medical Command will speak April 12 at a webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, the Army surgeon general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Diamond Hough, senior enlisted leader for Medical Command, will provide updates on COVID-19 vaccinations, talk about soldiers’ contributions to the fight against the disease, and discuss medical readiness.

The Pentagon continues to look for ways to provide service members and their families with access to counseling and other resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

“Our military family resources are especially critical during the pandemic,” Kim Joiner, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military, community and family policy, said recently during a virtual media roundtable. “To better serve our service members and their families during this challenging time, [we] significantly enhanced our support efforts in every aspect of our portfolio.”

There is a lot of room for improvement in military medical treatment facilities and programs, the DoD inspector general says in a report tied to the transition of hospitals and clinics away from the services and into the Defense Health Agency.

That transition is already underway, but the effort has stalled because of concerns in the services and Congress about timing.

The apparent rejection by Congress of a joint plea from the services to stop or at least delay a reorganization of military medical assets is a “deep disappointment” for the Army and for beneficiaries, said retired Gen. Carter Ham, president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army. 

The Army, Navy and Air Force are fighting to roll back an ongoing military health care transformation and restore service control over hospitals and clinics. 

The service secretaries and service chiefs have asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper to suspend any new efforts to transfer medical facilities, personnel and resources to the Defense Health Agency and undo some of the transfers already made, including giving control of DoD’s flagship hospital, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, back to the Army.