Captain TaRail A. Vernon, Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella, had the opportunity to discuss Virtual Health options with Lt. Cmdr. Leland Comer and RN Liz Broomfield-Smith on his monthly AFN radio show, Capt. Vernon’s Patient Informational Minute. The team spoke about the convenience of telephone and video enabled virtual health appointments, where patients can have a medical appointment with their primary care physician on health care concerns that do not include diagnostic and hands on physical exams. Patients can have a medical appointment with their provider for a wide variety of topics such as medication refills. Patients can also speak with their physician about established concerns that require specialists throughout the military healthcare network to include, Naples, Bahrain, Souda Bay and Germany. The interview concluded with the team educating patients about the convenience of virtual health, how to book appointments and the coordination of specialty health care.

U. S. Naval hospital Sigonella is one of The Defense Health Agency’s Overseas Military Treatment Facilities (MTF). The staff are comprised of active duty service members, General Service (GS), contractors, and Local Nationals. It ensures maximum readiness by providing high-quality, safe patient and family-centered care to maximize force health protection for all beneficiaries, to included NATO and transient DoD forces in the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet areas of operation.