In an effort to continually improve provider competency and patient care, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital welcomes military medical care providers from non-clinical assignments to practice in the facility.

Belvoir Hospital is the only military medical facility to offer this to outside providers.

"We provide an access point for military doctors in positions where they don't regularly see patients," said Army Col. Timothy Barron, chief of Emergency Services at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. "This allows providers to remain ready and able to meet the mission of global readiness."

Prior to working in the hospital, providers who are not on orders to the facility require a full credential packet, which takes approximately three months to complete.

"The documentation we require for a provider to work in the emergency room includes proof of medical licenses, diplomas, work history, evaluations results and peer recommendations," said Barron. After receiving their approval to practice at the hospital, Barron said he must observe and review each case the visiting provider takes on for the first 120 days of service. The providers themselves must work at least eight hours each month to maintain their credentialed status.

Those who have taken advantage of the program say the flexibility it provides is vital to ensuring they're able to properly care for patients.

"To be good at medicine, you have to practice medicine," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sara Faught, an emergency physician at Belvoir Hospital. Faught took advantage of the credentialing program while stationed at the Marine Corp's Chemical Biological Incident Response Force. "Through the program, I was able to work extra shifts to keep my clinical skills up-to-date [...]. It made coming into a full-time position a lot easier because I had already been working in an emergency room setting."

It takes a lot of work to get a visiting provider credentialed, but Barron said the payoff for the hospital is worth it.

"Having these physicians on hand allows us to distribute patient volume, decrease patient wait time and expedite care," he said. "Patients are never left with a lower standard of care because the practicing providers are competent, board certified experts that supplement our own."

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