Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital serves the community at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. (George Jumara/U.S. Army)
Workflow changes imposed this month mean more patients are receiving attention at Camp Humphreys’ hospital, according to medical professionals in charge of the facility.
Staff shortages during lunch breaks and mandatory training sessions have cut into business hours at Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital, Col. Chad Black, the facility’s director, told a virtual town hall Oct. 23.
Training hours are being adjusted and lunch times are now staggered so that clinics remain operational in some capacity, Black said.
“Our intent here is not to take every available hour in the day and apply it specifically to primary care,” he said. “However, we’ve got capabilities to assess how our primary care patient lines are seeing folks, and we know we have room to improve there. We can see it in the data.”
The periodic training, Black said, is necessary to “refine our processes” and meet medical credentialing standards.
In addition to the workflow changes, the hospital will add three new physicians within the next quarter, including an obstetrics and gynecology specialist, Black said.
One of the biggest concerns is employing more staff quickly, due to the roughly four- to six-month process to bring U.S.-based physicians to Humphreys, Col. Edgar Arroyo of the 65th Medical Brigade said at the town hall.
The hospital set goals of attending to patients needing urgent care within 24 to 36 hours, and routine services, including prescription renewals, within 14 days, according to Arroyo and Black.
Arroyo recommended patients adhere to their scheduled appointments due to limited resources. Each patient is assigned about two hospital staff and there are approximately 500 people who do not show up for their appointments each month, resulting in fewer available appointments, he said.
The hospital is looking for ways to improve its services to retirees and Defense Department civilian employees; however, care for service members and their families remain the priority to ensure the military is ready to respond to a crisis, according to Arroyo and Black.
“We very much understand the retirees’ desire to be seen on post,” Black said. “Please understand our top priority is our military members and their dependent families that reside here.”
Retirees and DOD civilians typically seek medical care from South Korean providers but may make appointments at Allgood if space is available.
Several South Korean hospitals near Humphreys have international departments to assist patients unable to speak Korean. These include Good Morning Hospital in Pyeongtaek city and Ajou University Hospital in Suwon.
Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them at Humphreys.
