Archive for January, 2013

MEDDAC Tobacco Free Campus
See COL Place and MAJ King on WTOC – TV discussing the tobacco-free campus initiative.

The intent of the CJ Reddy Leadership Course is to identify Top-Tier Army Nurse Corps junior officers, based on work performance, professionalism, special projects, APFT, and military bearing. The Company-grade officers selected are considered the ‘cream of the crop’ and ‘best in class’ for their respective year groups. In fact, selection to attend the CJ Reddy Leadership Conference is a Talent Marker for these junior officers, who are targeted for career tracking within the Army Nurse Corps.

CPT Robertson is a multi-talented and ambitious Army Nurse Corps officer who thrives under pressure and excels in challenging, austere environments. He leads by example in all dimensions of leadership and is a role model for physical fitness maintaining a 300 score on his physical fitness test.  As the Clinical Nurse OIC of the Emergency Department, his passion for patient centered clinical excellence helped drive several process improvements and policy updates both at the departmental and organizational level.  CPT Robertson’s commitment to professional growth, both of himself and through mentorship of others, distinguishes him as a leader with vast potential as a future Army senior leader.

By Michelle L. Gordon
MEDDAC Public Affairs Office

The New Year often brings a renewed focus on health so the Fort Stewart Medical Department Activity is starting a new program to help you achieve your weight-loss goals.

Entitled, “BMI: A Healthy Weigh to a Healthy You”, the program focuses on ensuring each beneficiary has a current Body Mass Index recorded in their medical history. Body Mass Index is a number calculated from a person’s weight and height. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it provides a reliable indicator of body fatness and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. In general, adults at a healthy weight have a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, people between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight, and anyone with a BMI more than 30 is obese. However, this isn’t about numbers said MEDDAC Commander Col. Ronald J. Place.

“We’re talking about a healthy lifestyle,” said Place. “The number is merely a frame of reference to help us [as health-care providers] give guidance.”

The program is scheduled to begin Jan. 1 at all Fort Stewart MEDDAC facilities as well as Tuttle Army Health Clinic. From then on, all patients will have their BMI calculated at every medical appointment, regardless of clinic specialty. This means if you visit your provider for back pain, a yearly physical, or even an eye exam, you will be weighed and measured as part of the new BMI program. Place said the timing of the program’s kick-off is not a coincidence.
“With the challenges Americans have with healthy lifestyles and the large number of people who have New Year’s resolutions that revolve around losing excess weight and increasing fitness, we see this as a unique opportunity to fill the needs of the community and help them on their journey toward a healthier lifestyle,” he said.
Place said the new BMI program is the second in a series of steps that began earlier this year when all Fort Stewart medical facilities became tobacco-free campuses. He also hinted there is more to follow in 2013 as MEDDAC continues to emphasize wellness rather than treating illness.

“In the future,” he said. “We look forward to partnering with the Garrison leadership on additional ways to make Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield healthy communities.”