Currently, 152 Navy Medicine case managers within military treatment facilities provide case management services to more than 5,300 beneficiaries, with approximately 1,800 of those individuals being wounded warriors.

Naval Medical Center San Diego’s team of physicians, nurses, prosthetic experts, physical, occupational, speech and recreation therapists, counselors, social workers, chaplains, care managers, and technicians treated more than 250 casualties in the last year.

Comprehensive Care for Wounded,Ill and Injured Sailors

Department of Navy has created a care coordination system working with federal and non-federal agencies and members of the health care team to improve the delivery of services to the wounded, ill and injured service members and their families.

Navy Medicine’s Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care (C5) program provides support by managing the care of severely injured or ill patients from medical evacuation through return to active duty or transition from the military.

The C5 program provides support to rebuild lives, renew hope and revitalize spirits by managing the care of severely injured or ill patients from medical evacuation through inpatient care, outpatient rehabilitation, and eventual return to active duty or transition from the military.

Navy Medicine’s Wounded, Ill and Injured Warrior Support Directorate and CNP’s Safe Harbor program work together to provide Sailors and their families the best possible medical and non-medical support and care from the time of injury through transition and beyond.

Safe Harbor is the focal point for non-medical case management, extending care beyond those wounded in combat to Sailors with serious illnesses or injuries.

‘‘Navy Medicine is dedicated to caring for our service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” states Vice Adm. Adam Robinson Jr., Surgeon General of the Navy. ‘‘The Wounded, Ill and Injured Warrior Support Directorate at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery ensures wounded Sailors and Marines, and their families, move from survive to thrive, throughout the recovery-rehabilitation-reintegration continuum.”

Navy Medical Case Managers working in conjunction with members of the health care team, including the Primary Care Manager, the Recovery Care Coordinators and the Care Managers from Safe Harbor and Wounded Warrior programs, ensure comprehensive care meets the specific needs of wounded, ill and injured service members and their families.

Streamlining the Disability Process

A new, streamlined Disability Evaluation System (DES) combines the requirements of the DoD and Veterans Affairs (VA) disability systems.

DES requires service members to have only one comprehensive disability examination and then uses the disability ratings established by the VA for both the DoD and VA processes. The program was initiated in the National Capital Region in November 2007 and will be expanded to Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) this month. By Spring 2009, it will expand to the Naval Hospitals at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Bremerton, Wash., Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.

DES removes redundancy and creates a simple transparent process that allows for delivery of VA benefits as soon as the member separates from the service.

The Disability Evaluation System exemplifies the collaboration required to ensure the most successful and efficient care for our wounded, ill and injured Sailors.

Sailors or family members with questions or problems can contact Safe Harbor 24⁄7 by phone (877) 746-8563 or at www.SafeHarbor.navy.mil.