PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES  –   PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Nov. 6, 2020)—Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s Obstetrician-Gynecology (OBGYN) Department, along with Branch Health Clinic (BHC) Norfolk, have partnered with the Bureau of Medicine (BUMED) Office of Women’s Health and the Female Forces Readiness Clinical Community to pilot a new program called ‘Women’s Healthcare at the Waterfront.’

The program launched on Oct. 2 at BHC Norfolk, and it was created to provide support to the fleet, increase female Sailors’ access to women’s health providers, perform educational outreach with waterfront providers, and enhance providers’ competencies in addressing women’s health needs while underway or deployed.

“In 2019, the BUMED Office of Women’s Health hosted a Navy Female Strategic Summit, and there we developed a female force readiness initiative with six goals for improving women’s health, lethality and warfighter deployability,” said Cmdr. Shari Gentry, NMCP’s BHC’s director of Primary Care Clinics. “We thought about the best ways to bring that to reality, and found that embedded women’s health would provide easier access to women’s health services, promote preventive health care, and provider quicker resolutions to health challenges.”

Held weekly on Fridays in Norfolk, the program hopes to encourage female Sailors to feel comfortable and confident in seeking help for their health issues, and to help them overcome what they may perceive as barriers to receiving quality healthcare.

“They can come in and be seen for any type of well women’s issue, whether it be contraception, abnormal uterine or vaginal bleeding, vaginitis complaints or just needing a basic pap smear,” said Cmdr. Katie Schulz, NMCP Certified Nurse Midwife. “Anything that they can’t get done on the ship or they are uncomfortable going to ship’s medical for, they can come see a women’s health expert here on a self-referral basis.”

With the large concentration of the fleet located at Naval Station Norfolk, the proximity of the clinic to the base is only a little more than a mile away from BHC Norfolk.

“With this program, we’re moving care to a more accessible location,” said Cmdr. Darla Dietrich, BHC Norfolk’s officer in charge. “Our OBGYN clinic provides several services, including a walk-in contraceptive clinic, and this program adds another day that a provider will come over from NMCP to provide care to Sailors here at the clinic.”

As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 Branch Health and
TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.