Military training expected to bring no-cost medical services more than 7,000
NORWICH – Efforts are well underway to bring a large-scale military training exercise to Norwich that will not only improve U.S. Department of Defense personnel, but also provide no-cost health care services to the local community.
A Chenango County coalition of planning and human service agencies, working in conjunction with Southern Tier East Regional Planning and Development and the Department of Defense (DOD), is working out details to bring the training exercise to Norwich. If plans go accordingly, a DOD Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) site will bring more than 100 military personnel to the area to provide residents with basic clinical, dental, vision and veterinary services at no cost.
The exercise will take place from July 11 through July 24. The IRT site would also be available to provide no cost healthcare services to residents in 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 unpreserved communities.
“This is a training for the military that benefits the community,” said Chenango County Planning Director Donna Jones at a meeting of the county’s Planning and Economic Development Committee last week. Though DOD holds such training events in other locations throughout the country, this is the “first of its kind in the northeast,” she added.
While the project has been in the works for months, new cost saving developments for the DOD are allowing the it to bring in even more personnel than expected, explained Jones, which means providing services to more people.
“The superintendent of the Norwich School District is opening the middle school and high school to have everything there,” Jones told committee members, citing initial plans of holding the exercise at the county fairgrounds in Norwich. But since the school is now allowing use of classrooms, cafeteria, kitchen, science labs, laundry rooms, and locker rooms, then temporary housing and board comes at a much lesser cost to the DOD, which means more money for the department to provide essential services, Jones said.
“We originally thought that they might be able to provide services to about 5,000 people,” Jones said. “With the school opening their facility, they think they might be able to provide services to between 7,000 and 10,000 people.”
Norwich Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said, “We have decided to open the facility as much as possible to get more services to more people. I think this is a great opportunity for the area and our goal was to have as many people could benefit from this as possible.”
In addition to providing the community with no cost healthcare services, the IRT program is expected to be a boon to the local economy and increase business at private medical practices through follow up referrals issued by military personnel.
The DOD is required to get letters of approval from private medical practices, including dentists, optometrists and veterinarians in order to hold the training. Jones said she doesn’t anticipate any problems in doing so.
The Chenango County IRT Committee consists of multiple health and human services agencies, including UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital, Chenango County Department of Social Services, Catholic Charities, the United Way, the Chenango SPCA, Chenango Department of Health, and the Norwich City School District.
A Chenango County coalition of planning and human service agencies, working in conjunction with Southern Tier East Regional Planning and Development and the Department of Defense (DOD), is working out details to bring the training exercise to Norwich. If plans go accordingly, a DOD Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) site will bring more than 100 military personnel to the area to provide residents with basic clinical, dental, vision and veterinary services at no cost.
The exercise will take place from July 11 through July 24. The IRT site would also be available to provide no cost healthcare services to residents in 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 unpreserved communities.
“This is a training for the military that benefits the community,” said Chenango County Planning Director Donna Jones at a meeting of the county’s Planning and Economic Development Committee last week. Though DOD holds such training events in other locations throughout the country, this is the “first of its kind in the northeast,” she added.
While the project has been in the works for months, new cost saving developments for the DOD are allowing the it to bring in even more personnel than expected, explained Jones, which means providing services to more people.
“The superintendent of the Norwich School District is opening the middle school and high school to have everything there,” Jones told committee members, citing initial plans of holding the exercise at the county fairgrounds in Norwich. But since the school is now allowing use of classrooms, cafeteria, kitchen, science labs, laundry rooms, and locker rooms, then temporary housing and board comes at a much lesser cost to the DOD, which means more money for the department to provide essential services, Jones said.
“We originally thought that they might be able to provide services to about 5,000 people,” Jones said. “With the school opening their facility, they think they might be able to provide services to between 7,000 and 10,000 people.”
Norwich Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said, “We have decided to open the facility as much as possible to get more services to more people. I think this is a great opportunity for the area and our goal was to have as many people could benefit from this as possible.”
In addition to providing the community with no cost healthcare services, the IRT program is expected to be a boon to the local economy and increase business at private medical practices through follow up referrals issued by military personnel.
The DOD is required to get letters of approval from private medical practices, including dentists, optometrists and veterinarians in order to hold the training. Jones said she doesn’t anticipate any problems in doing so.
The Chenango County IRT Committee consists of multiple health and human services agencies, including UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital, Chenango County Department of Social Services, Catholic Charities, the United Way, the Chenango SPCA, Chenango Department of Health, and the Norwich City School District.
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