Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center

Employees from USS Osborne pose for a photo with their birthday cake at the Lake Michigan beachfront at Naval Station Great Lakes, where they had gathered for an end-of-summer staff picnic. Pictured from left to right, front row, are Shannon Wongpicot (wife of Hospitalman Juan Wongpicot), Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Mario Nelson, Cmdr. Martin Anerino, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Nikita Brown, Hospitalman Sierra Rushing, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Audrey Velis and Hospitalman Melissa Williams. Back row, left to right, Hospitalman Ory Harrison, Hospitalman Juan Wongpicot, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Benjamin Spillman, Hospitalman Angelica Hargraves, Hospitalman Thibault Bignom and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Rob Garciarazo.

What a difference a year makes!

Many of the people in the audience at Lovell FHCC’s birthday and time capsule celebration Sept. 30 could barely believe a year had passed since the integration and creation of the nation’s first FHCC.

“It seems like yesterday” was a repeated refrain from employees, Active Duty, Veterans, family members and local officials gathered in front of the new Ambulatory Care Clinic to watch Capt. James A. Lovell, FHCC Director Patrick Sullivan and Deputy Director Capt. David Beardsley unveil the marker for two time capsules to be opened in 2060 – one each for the North Chicago VAMC and the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes. The burial of the time capsules marked the end of an era for the separate Navy and VA medical facilities that existed in North Chicago and Great Lakes, Ill., until the integration last year, and at the same time it represented a new era beginning for the FHCC.

“Today, we mark the anniversary of our first birthday as an FHCC – I am very excited to see how far we can take our promise of ‘Readying Warriors and Caring for Heroes’ in the future,” Sullivan said. “I look forward to seeing what innovations, achievements and solutions you bring to our patients in the coming years.”

Sullivan outlined numerous advancements made over the past year and thanked employees for making them possible. “You should be proud,” he said, of accomplishments such as the openings of a state-of-the-art medical surgical ward and a Caregiver Support Center, unique among all VA and Navy facilities.

“We broke ground on two of six new Green House® Homes,” Sullivan said, “shifting the paradigm of long-term care facilities.”

By early spring, the new 8,500-square-foot homes will provide up to 10 residents a home with private bedrooms and bathrooms, community kitchens, dining and living areas.

Additionally, the activation of the new 209,000-square-foot Ambulatory Care Clinic allowed the FHCC to officially move out of the former Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes’ Bldg. 200H.

Lovell FHCC also was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation by Navy Medicine East – a first for any integrated facility. And for the first time in the history of VA and the DoD, “We are linking medical records that allow portability between the two systems,” Sullivan said. “This means that an X-ray taken of a Recruit on our East campus in the Department of Defense system can be seen and acted upon in the VA system on our West campus.“This is a huge leap forward,” he said. “And you are part of that history.”

Both Sullivan and Beardsley praised employees for the FHCC’s latest recognition from The Joint Commission as a top performer in treatment of pneumonia and heart attack patients. “This is an honor that was given to 13 percent of 3,099 facilities throughout the nation,” Sullivan said.

Beardsley noted that the birthday celebration came on the heels of the return of 21 FHCC Sailors from “Continuing Promise,” a humanitarian mission on the USNS Comfort in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

“Specifically, they contributed to the triage of 67,879 patients, conducted 1,130 surgeries, filled 109,785 prescriptions and handed out 23,440 pairs of glasses,” Beardsley said. He added that FHCC dental personnel assisted with 9,104 dental exams, 3,863 cleanings, 5,610 extractions and 3,786 fillings.

“What that tells us is that our promise of ‘Readying Warriors and Caring for Heroes’ is much larger than Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin,” he said. “It’s projected through Naval operations all over the world.” The total number of deployed Sailors from the FHCC during the past year was 85, Beardsley noted.

When Lovell took the podium, the retired Naval officer and NASA astronaut said it was the FHCC’s “great team with good leadership,” that successfully navigated the first year, “of trials and tribulations.”

He likened the FHCC’s progress so far to a journey. “This is just the beginning,” said Lovell, the namesake of the facility. “We have a long way to go but I think we’re on a successful voyage.” Lovell, who attended with his wife, Marilyn Lovell, said he was honored to help unveil the time capsules marker and participate in the birthday celebration. He blew out the #1 candle and greeted well-wishers after the ceremony.

Beardsley noted “intangible accomplishments” also, including events such as the record-setting snowfall in February, when many employees spent the night at work to ensure patients continued to receive needed medical care. “Make no mistake,” he told employees in his remarks. “You go far beyond what the numbers show, and we can’t thank you enough.”

FHCC leaders also visited USS Tranquillity, USS Osborne, USS Red Rover, Fisher Clinic, and FHCC’s Community-Based Outpatient Clinics in Evanston, Kenosha and McHenry to deliver and cut birthday cakes with employees.

Lovell FHCC notable first-year numbers:

• Total outpatient visits VistA and AHLTA: 829,399
• Total inpatient admissions: 4,489
• Total dental visits to West Campus: 5,644
• Total dental visits (dental weighted value) to East Campus: 639,020
• Pharmacy prescriptions (fiscal year 2011): 1,870,170
• Number of records integrated: about 90,000
• USS Red Rover processed more than 38,000 Navy Recruits; delivering more than 178,000 immunizations