66 MDG to receive medical training through partnership

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Bridget Brozyna
  • 66th Medical Operations Squadron
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- --  A new partnership between the 66th Medical Group and the Veterans Affairs Boston Health Care System in West Roxbury, Mass. will provide Hanscom's active-duty nurses and medical technicians with essential wartime skills. 

A training affiliation agreement was signed here Wednesday between the 66 MDG and the VA hospital, beginning a partnership that will allow active-duty licensed nurses and medical technicians not currently working in a tertiary center to get hands on training in a tertiary clinical setting. 

The agreement will allow Hanscom medical personnel to meet the requirements of a recent wartime readiness sustainment policy. 

The 66 MDG, which is a primary health care center, does not provide the variety of opportunities to complete and sustain certain essential wartime skills for its active-duty medical personnel, said Lt. Col. Denise Irizarry, chief nurse executive and 66th Medical Support Squadron commander. "This training platform is designed to address this issue." 

The specific nature of the agreement will allow each member to work side by side with a VA nurse or technician and gain valuable hands on experience and hone critical thinking skills. The participants will complete 168 hours of training and will focus on completing their required Readiness Verification Skills and wartime readiness skills. 

Areas available to the participants include the intensive care unit, emergency room, cardiac telemetry unit, the operating room and medical and surgical units. 

"The VA Boston Healthcare System is looking forward to this opportunity to share resources with our Department of Defense colleagues," said Cecilia McVey, VA Boston Healthcare System Nursing and Patient Care Services associate director. "We share a common goal: quality health care for those who serve. In the strength of the pursuit of that common goal, we will find strength in this important partnership." 

Active-duty nurses and technicians will have the opportunity to provide care to recently returned combat wounded veterans, as well as care for veterans who served many years ago. "The veterans will witness first-hand the dedication to provide the world's best medical care to those who have served the United States so honorably," Colonel Irizarry said. 

"The need to maintain a ready force is more important than ever," said Col. Jackson Dobbins, 66 MDG commander. "Efforts like these will guarantee the medical needs of our military, veterans of today and tomorrow will be served with the highest standard of care."