NORWICH – A Chenango County coalition of planning and human service agencies, working in conjunction with Southern Tier East Regional Planning and Development and the United States Department of Defense, is hammering out details of a large-scale military training exercise that may bring no-cost health services to thousands of local residents as early as next summer.
An application to the DOD was filed by Southern Tier East in November with hopes of bringing an Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) site to Chenango County. Having been officially selected as a possible IRT site earlier this year, plans are now underway to make the proposal a reality as early as July, 2015.
If plans go accordingly, the IRT site in Chenango would bring an estimated 80-100 military personnel to the Chenango County Fairgrounds in Norwich for training in health services encompassing basic clinical, dental and veterinary needs to local residents free of charge. Plans are to utilize the Norwich City high school and middle school for clinic locations, and the fairgrounds for veterinary services and additional set-up.
Other possible services, including a vision center and mental health clinic, are also being explored.
The proposed IRT site would also reach residents of neighboring Broome, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga counties. The goal, according to the DOD, is to provide real-world training opportunities for service members and units to prepare them for wartime missions while simultaneously supporting the needs of underserved communities.
Representatives of multiple planning, government and nonprofit organizations in the county attended an IRT meeting held at the Chenango County Office Building on Thursday to discuss opportunities and challenges of moving forward with the project. Issues brought to the table covered financial expenses for meals and administrative supplies for service members, concerns of logistics, publicity and community outreach, and a need for connections with partnering agencies and additional volunteers.
“Who we partner with can be strategic in the type of service and experience we provide to the community members and service members,” said Caroline Quidort, Development Analyst for Southern Tier East Regional Planning. “Volunteers are also essential. We can’t do such an event without a good and reliable volunteer base, so we have to consider how to properly train and recruit them so we can count on them.”
The proposal is to have service members in the county for a total of 11 days from start to finish, said Quidort: one day for set-up, nine days of clinical services, and one day to tear down. Southern Tier East Regional Planning is presently looking for funding opportunities through the Appalachian Development Corporation to help offset some of the costs of IRT training.
The IRT Committee has scheduled another meeting to be held later this month. While Southern Tier East will not be taking the leadership role in the project, it will be involved in orchestrating local organizations.
Said Southern Tier East Director Eric Miller, “There has to be a local investment to make this really work. It’s a good program and we’re going to get out of it what we put into it, but we’re going to have to put a lot into it.”