Over 130 lined up for free DOD medical, vet exercise

The U.S. Department of Defense is set to send over 130 military personnel to the CNMI in July to provide various medical services to the communities of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

The Innovative Readiness Training, to be called CNMI Operation Wellness, will have trained medical personnel from various branches of the military providing free medical services that includes vision screenings, health exams, dental, public health education, and even veterinary services.

Military leaders who will take part in CNMI Operation Wellness in July met with Gov. Arnold Palacios and Lt. Gov. David Apatang last week for a planning conference to finalize the logistics of Operation Wellness.

“We will be conducting…no-cost medical services to the communities of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. We are here for our final planning conference,” said Maj. Samantha Madsen, CNMI Wellness Mission project manager.

IRT CNMI Operation Wellness is a joint-service medical mission primarily composed of over 130 credentialed healthcare providers from the U.S. Army Reserve. It will be augmented by the Air National Guard, U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force. Clinics will run from July 12 to July 20 on Saipan and July 12 to July 19 on Rota and Tinian. Services will be provided at no cost to the community. No insurance is necessary.

Madsen explained that the IRT program is funded through the Office of the Secretary of Defense and what it does is it matches community needs with opportunities for the military to come in and do trainings to further fine-tune and hone their skills.

In the case of the CNMI, the Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs under the Office of the Governor requested specific medical services and through IRT, military personnel who have been trained in the medical field will come to the CNMI to provide those services.

According to Col. Hugh West, CNMI Wellness mission commander, the services they will be providing include dental, optometry, veterinarian services, medical services, and mental health services.

“Ultimately, what we do is we [choose] an array of our highly trained medical personnel to come here and do more fine-tuning to their skill sets when they get here. It’s a double win because our folks are able to train on everything that we do, while providing free services to the community, including dental, optometry, veterinarian services, medical services, and mental health services,” he said.

The Office of the Governor will have a webpage in the near future designed to answer the community’s questions, including service dates, times, and locations, and services that will and will not be provided.