Hospital Ship wasn't ready before deployment: Do we need them to be active at all times?

2015-08-18T12:48:58-04:00

NORFOLK, Va. — Stress levels were so high among sailors aboard a Navy hospital ship preparing to provide humanitarian assistance to Latin America that the medical unit was not considered mission capable weeks before it was set to deploy in March, according to Navy documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The commander of the USNS Comfort's medical unit, Capt. Rachel Haltner, was removed from her post two days before the ship left port. At the time, the Navy said the move was due to a "loss of confidence in Haltner's ability to command."

Navy documents released to The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act show sailors in the Comfort's medical unit reported low levels of trust in their leadership and felt mentally, physically and emotionally worn out before they ever deployed. The documents showed many respondents to a command climate survey said they got six hours of sleep or less per night, that there were communication issues and there was a lack of personnel to get the job done.

Capt. Rachel Haltner, commander of the USNS Comfort's
Capt. Rachel Haltner, commander of the USNS Comfort's medical unit. (Photo: AP via Navy)
The survey, which was conducted by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick Air ForceBase, Florida, also showed that sailors in the ship's medical unit experienced much higher levels of stress than others in the Navy's medical field.

Haltner could not be reached for comment. There was no response at an address listed for her and the Navysaid it would not make her available to discuss the survey. She had served as the commanding officer of the ship's medical treatment facility since 2013.

The USNS Comfort is currently being used to build goodwill by providing medical and dental care in 11 countries. In a 10-day period in July, it treated more than 9,300 patients in Colombia, according to the Navy. The Comfort's medical treatment facility currently has about 700 sailors assigned to it, although it can have as many as 1,200. The vessel was also deployed to New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

This year's five-month mission is the first the Norfolk-based ship has undertaken in four years due to spending cuts.

Haltner was reassigned to the staff at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth pending the outcome of the Navy'sinvestigation, which isn't finished. Capt. Christine Sears has been assigned to oversee the Comfort's medical unit.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/08/17/survey-trust-exhaustion-were-issues--navy-hospital-ship/31884045/

We have gone through waives of having our hospital ships inactive and then reactivating them in crises. Should they remain ready?

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 18 at 2015 12:49 PM

2015-08-18T12:49:39-04:00

At least one be ready at all times. That would make sense.

Response by PO1 Billy Williams made Aug 18 at 2015 12:52 PM

2015-08-18T12:52:26-04:00

No offense but women do not need to be on US Navy ships. I have always felt that way and it was confirmed after serving on board the USS Acadia (AD-42).

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 18 at 2015 1:02 PM

2015-08-18T13:02:14-04:00

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member I saw this a few weeks ago, but I misread it -- I thought it was the ship's commander that was relieved. Interesting. She's a doctor, and her post made her an administrator, something it seems she wasn't fit for.

As for the Comfort or Mercy (her sister ship), I believe they're mandated to be held in a state of readiness that lets them depart with something like 2 weeks notice. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it's something like that.

Fun fact: Both the Mercy and the Comfort started out their lives as VLCC's (Very Large Crude Carriers) before being converted.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2015 1:12 PM

2015-08-18T13:12:42-04:00

This has more to do with the fact that most of the deployed members don't actually belong to the ship but instead belong to the Navy Medical Center and only had about a month to train after reporting to the ship before the deployment started.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2015 1:17 PM

2015-08-18T13:17:10-04:00

I'm just a ground pounder, but I think it would make sense to have one on each coast in a constant state of readiness. With the number of natural disasters affecting our coastlines each year, I think their ability to provide overflow treatment for hospitals alone would justify this.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2015 1:33 PM

2015-08-18T13:33:43-04:00

It's a medical ship. The primary purpose for it would be to treat medical emergencies, why would it not be ready at a moments notice? Is the enemy going to notify us months in advance they are going to attack so we can prepare and get ready? Would it be acceptable if our Air Defense Systems required 2 weeks prep work to be able to shoot down a missile directed at us? Unless there is a backup system in place, ready to cover their mission while they conduct training/upgrades/etc, they should be mission ready at all times.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 18 at 2015 1:51 PM

2015-08-18T13:51:59-04:00

It's clear that the CO didn't push the readiness of her medical staff. There is no excuse for this, irrespective of whether they are active or reserve.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 18 at 2015 4:04 PM

2015-08-18T16:04:06-04:00

My personal opinion is to convert old Carriers (rather than destroying them) into Humanitarian Effort "groups" and ties the Hospital Ships to that Group administratively.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 18 at 2015 4:39 PM

2015-08-18T16:39:37-04:00

How long did the ship and sailors have to prepare for deployment.

Response by PO2 Nick Burke made Aug 18 at 2015 9:55 PM

2015-08-18T21:55:06-04:00

Stress during deployment prep is always high. 6 hrs sleep? Ask the Engineering Dept about 6x6 w/ a full workday.
It is the Commands fault they were not ready. Officers and the Chiefs.

Response by SCPO Lee Pradia made Aug 20 at 2015 7:02 AM

2015-08-20T07:02:44-04:00

Hospital ships are augmented by personnel assigned to hospitals and clinics with a civilian crew. To have a crew assigned permanently would be the fix, but would require an increase in personnel and I'm sure the Naval Hospitals are not going to give up there bodies, especially it's surgeons and other specialists, let alone nurses and support staff. Remember, they are 1000 bed floating hospital ships.
Maybe if they held quarterly training sessions, that would help prepare them when needed, because the break glass in case of emergency method isn't working.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 20 at 2015 8:58 AM

2015-08-20T08:58:03-04:00

There seems to be a growing trend in relieving CO's and CMC's in the past several years!

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Aug 20 at 2015 9:01 AM

2015-08-20T09:01:25-04:00

Yes all military personnel should be able to answer the bell at a moments notice. It's part of the oath we took in a macro sense... Needs of the government come first.

Response by PO1 Scott Cottrell made Aug 20 at 2015 7:13 PM

2015-08-20T19:13:52-04:00

We need Medical staff ready to deploy at all times. LHD's and LHA's are the biggest hospitals afloat other than hospital ships. Deploy extra medical staff on them, if hospital ships are not ready for deployment. But, it sounds like the Medial Staff were not ready in the article, not the ship itself.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 27 at 2017 7:09 PM

2017-02-27T19:09:33-05:00

My word! These ships are critical in the event of a national need. OF COURSE they should maintain constant state of readiness, as do other afloat commands. In the event of a larger conflict, Marines and Navy personnel will require these services. Not everyone can be evacuated to the U.S. or even the medical facilities such as in Germany. One should should think the large scale operations of WWII (over even Korea/Vietnam) should have answered THAT question.