Navy

Navy Medicine operational readiness is predicated on the foundation it is built upon.
 
Establishing that framework has been an ongoing developmental responsibility at Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command Bremerton.
 
Welcome to Battle Ready Training Tuesday, a command-wide initiative focused on providing preparatory skills training primarily for hospital corpsman yet open to all staff members.
 
For Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (Enlisted Expeditionary Warfare Qualification) Adam Redman, NMRTC Bremerton Family Medicine Center leading petty officer, his active involvement in coordinating and providing the training has gathered momentum as the weekly sessions continue to attract a sizable number of staff.
 
“The goal is to further hone our operational readiness and mission capability with basic skills,” said Redman, noting that the program was established under the direction of Captain Heather Kirk [NMRTC Bremerton chief nursing officer], who consolidated several independent command training efforts into the formal working group.
 
“Its origin lies in a recognized need to enhance core competencies, streamline training into a single, digestible package, and reinforce the hands-on skills required for the hospital corpsman personnel qualification standards. The result is a training plan grounded in mastering the basics of patient care,” explained Redman.
 
The training is provided by experienced providers, nurses, and corpsmen who teach and guide those in attendance through challenging simulations.
 
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Kaitlyn R Cooper helped provide guidance and instruction during the hands-on suture skills training held December 16, 2025.
 
The training session allowed corpsmen in attendance to practice complete sequence of care in a small group setting concentrating on the proper donning of sterile gloves, wound flushing and preparation, simulated local anesthetic administration, and suture techniques on high-fidelity skin models.
 
Cooper taught the wound flushing and preparation stage.
 
“Irrigating the wound is a crucial step in patient care. It has to be thoroughly done to get rid of any debris, stop infection, and clean out any blood, discharge or anything else limiting visualization of the wound,” said Cooper. “Being part of our Urgent Care Clinic gives me a lot of different experiences that our other corpsmen might not have had yet. I get to share that helping here and I love teaching. It’s a favorite part of my job as a corpsman.”
 
The training sessions are generally scenario based, having the corpsmen work in small groups with an instructor – like Cooper – to achieve specific learning objectives. To encourage interaction and critical thinking, groups rotate through several instructors who each present a unique scenario.
 
“This level of interaction between corpsmen, nurses and providers has created a collaborative learning environment where everyone can contribute and learn from. At the end of each session, a debrief is held with the participants to gather feedback and topic suggestions, and a separate debrief with the instructors to refine the training process,” Redman said.
 
Redman attests that the training was initially designed for ambulatory care corpsmen in direct patient care roles. But the format has proven beneficial for all command corpsmen, including those who may not have regular opportunities to practice these skills.
 
“The goal is to enhance operational readiness. Effective medicine is rooted in fundamentals like taking vital signs, gathering patient histories, and communicating clearly with the medical team. The skills taught in this program are the foundation for our Sailor’s future success,” stressed Redman.
 
One recent training session was specifically tailored for corpsmen who graduated from the Navy’s school for their rate but do not have any additional specialized training. The instruction addressed recognizing abnormal vital signs in the field – ranging from hypothermia to hyperthermia – with hands-on guidance provided to allow the corpsmen to identify patterns, prioritize urgency, take action and conduct reassessment for a wounded patient in the field.
 
Each training is designed to be accessible to all, regardless of rank or experience level, with each session beginning with an introduction to the topic and a clear outline of training objectives.
 
“The true success of this program is measured by the individual Sailor. We want them to leave with a key insight that clicks into place when they face a real-world challenge. It’s also a mutually beneficial experience, empowering our instructors to become better leaders by strengthening their own skills through teaching,” Redmon said.
 
“On one level of importance, we’re able to bridge the gap in skills expected from our providers and multifaceted teams, along with showing the people who make up the bulk of our workforce that we are dedicated and invested in them,” continued Redman. “Our nurses have been vital to this effort as preceptors, building a rapport with Sailors that they might not have been able to before.”
 
Redman also stressed the committed encouragement and guidance from command leadership has been a driving force for the entire training team. “The support from instructors and command leadership has been truly essential to the program’s success,” he said.  
 
“We’re making sure this training is all applicable and aligned with our focus on Navy fleet readiness. This is our own [Navy Medicine] deployment readiness focus to get us where we need to be as a ready medical force,” stated Kirk.

Through meticulous, rigorous training, the Defense Health Agency launched a streamlined provider-privileging process that allows health care providers to care for patients right away in any military hospital or clinic.

As of Oct. 15, 2025, Military Health System providers will retain their clinical privileges when moving between stateside and overseas military hospitals, clinics, and deployed settings. The new enterprise-wide process reduces administrative burdens and addresses long-standing concerns with the privileging process.

“We needed to increase readiness and increase efficiency in our privileging process,” said Dr. Todd Poindexter, DHA’s chief of credentialing and privileging. “DHA was charged with making changes, and we are no longer requiring an additional privileging action just because a provider moved locations.”

The DHA effort was “an amazing project. I have not seen anything this big, this fast, in the military medical system,” he said. “Almost no one in the country has this ease of movement among facilities — and in this instance, not only among facilities, but even from a military treatment facility to a deployed location.”

DHA’s diligent preparation

Training and education were a vital part in bringing the new process to life.

Leading up to the rollout, DHA trained nearly 1,000 individuals across credentialing and privileging staff, as well as chief medical officers and senior department heads. The multiple training sessions were followed by office hours and an open line for trainee questions.“ It was detailed so that each group knew exactly what was expected of them and how they would be able to do it,” Poindexter said.

DHA then sent out a needs assessment asking the various groups what future things would be most helpful for them. The DHA credentialing and privileging team wanted to “make sure we understood exactly what their further needs were so that we could then provide any additional training to meet the needs of the people who had to fulfill this process,” Poindexter said.

The new system is an exciting industry innovation, he added, and was accomplished in an amazingly short time considering its scale. He also noted that the effort unified all of military medicine for efficient patient care while maintaining appropriate safety mechanisms.

“It applies everywhere, not just DHA,” Poindexter said. “While DHA is responsible for the MTFs, all of those representatives — the surgeon generals, Army, Navy, Air Force and the DHA director — make up one large Military Health System.”

Provider privileging necessary for quality

Privileging is central to clinical quality assurance and patient safety. To acquire privileges, a provider’s scope of practice is determined through a thorough review of their training, accumulated experience, current competence and health status, as well as input from peers and department leaders.

In the past, under an installation-based system, each military hospital or clinic operated its own privileging process, requiring providers to undergo a full review every time they relocated. If a provider’s qualifications and duration of privileges for the same scope of practice were valid at one military hospital or clinic, the process had to be repeated if they moved to another.

According to Poindexter, the overall onboarding process was complicated and could delay patient access to care.

The new goal, he said, is to complete the credentialing and privileging portion of the onboarding process expeditiously with an authorization to practice decision within five business days — ideally, even before the provider gets to the new location — so that there would be no additional credentialing and privileging actions required once “boots are on the ground,” he said, noting this change along with other onboarding process changes ensures well-organized provider transitions.

“By being able to transfer providers more easily and shortening the time it takes for the onboarding process, we’re moving providers more quickly into an operational environment which would increase readiness and force projection,” he said.

‘Significant change’ for faster, more flexible care

Under the revised MHS-wide policy, an approved health care provider will now receive privileges from a MHS privileging authority, which is part of a unified governing body.

“In our old system, every single location was its own entity. When you left, you had to start over. Now, we are operating as a closed system under an overarching MHS governing body,” Poindexter said.

When transferring between MHS entities, health care providers will now sign an attestation for an approved scope of work. System-wide privileges will last for a period of three years.

A health care provider’s current privileges will now remain valid at any MHS entity for the duration of their existing term. Once privileges expire, they can be renewed at the health care provider’s current duty station for a term of three years.

The rigorous standards for earning clinical privileges remain unchanged, and the update does not alter the credentialing requirements or safeguards built into the quality assurance process. Providers will continue to be accountable for safe patient care at whichever facility they are working.

By simplifying movement across the MHS while preserving these protections, Poindexter said the process is designed to speed workflows, reduce delays, and support an agile, unified medical force that can respond swiftly to operational demands.

He credited the effort to a “great DHA team. There were so many people who have worked really hard on this. We have been a part of a very significant change.”

“Joining the military and serving others is a family tradition,” Pentz said. “Seeing my father’s work in Fire and EMS was a big driving force to keep me in medical.”

Serving as a Preventive Medicine Technician (NEC L12A), Pentz plays a vital role in safeguarding the health of Sailors and ensuring warfighters remain ready to execute the mission. His day-to-day responsibilities include inspecting food establishments, monitoring water facilities, managing vector mitigation programs, and identifying potential breaks in the public health chain that could impact operational readiness across the installation.

Beyond his technical duties, Pentz is passionate about mentorship and training. By educating and developing other Sailors, he helps expand Navy Medicine’s public health capability and ensures the next generation of preventive medicine professionals is prepared to meet global health challenges.

“Navy Medicine is about getting people back in the fight and preventing anything that could take them out,” Pentz said. “Nothing compares to mentoring others and helping them succeed.”

Strategically positioned on the Iberian Peninsula, the hospital plays a critical role in defending, restoring, and elevating the health of warfighters and their families. USNH Rota provides ready, reliable care to 8,400 service members and their families.

For more information on USNH Rota and its mission, visit www.rota.tricare.mil (http://www.rota.tricare.mil/).