Command wide upgrade a total IMD effort at NHB

Story by Douglas Stutz

Naval Hospital Bremerton/Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Bremerton

With the Defense Health Agency mandating that all military treatment facilities commands upgrade their current computers by mid-May, that herculean task has already been accomplished by Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Information Management Department.

According to Patrick Flaherty, NHB chief information officer, replacing the older systems – with new hardware and software – on all workstations and laptops will provide improved user interface, enhanced productivity features, optimized performance, and more importantly, tighter security.

“This impacted everyone in the command. Existing workstations were systematically upgraded overnight. We started at our [Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Unit] Bangor clinic and main hospital on one floor before branching out to everywhere else. Staff logging onto their computers the next morning have all the same applications and function as before.” said Flaherty.

Flaherty noted that the DHA provided over 700 new workstations which have been optimized for the upgrade.

“But it was up to the site to deploy them,” explained Flaherty. “This proved to be a challenge for months, even after dedicating someone full-time working at night. Through the untiring efforts of Ms. Dora Herman of the Budget Office, the command was able to secure funding for civilian information technology specialists to join the effort.”

The IMD team, augmented by additional personnel, took on the challenge.

Ensign David Tegtmeyer, Information Management Department assistant department head and Information Systems Technician 1st Class Correy Bushman, IMD leading petty officer were notable in their involvement by thinking outside the box to identify the replacement of keyboards, mice, and power cords. Bushman, covering a chief petty officer billet. Bushman coordinated with NMRTC Bremerton Chief’s Mess, First Class Petty Officers Association and clinic staff on the installation of new keyboards, mice, and power cords.

“This was the genius idea that energized the effort forward and inspired the team to get the new hardware out by the deadline. That’s 60 percent of the work in changing out a workstation,” Flaherty said, noting that they also effectively collaborated with all receiving departments to prepare them in replacing the peripherals prior to the installation.

“All that needed to be done at that point was just the technical part of the install,” added Flaherty.

Yet the overall accelerated coordination could not have been accomplished without the work of a key information specialist.

“The unsung hero behind this effort was Mr. James Kang. He architected the software upgrade by developing a plan that could scale to upgrade hundreds of workstations with a few keystrokes. He also put together the process of imaging the new hardware,” stated Flaherty.

Other notable contributors were Mr. Rick Seward, IMD system administrator, Ms. Seok Eng, IT administrator and Ms. Donna Archer, information systems security officer who stepped outside their regular duties by joined working well into the evenings to meet the DHA deadline.

Mr. Roger Smith, IT support and clinical liaison Ms. Mona Gollan, IT specialist and Mr. Chet Hunter, PACS administrator handled all the back-end software installs and upgrades for clinical systems.

Additionally, Mr. Daniel Blohm and Mr. Brian Roy, both DHA contractors working in IMD, contributed to the effort by supporting the network changes and handling the bulk of service calls, respectively.

“Without their support the work would not have been possible,” Flaherty said.

Information Systems Technician 1st Class Matthew Ericksen and Electronics Technician 2nd Class Adam Phelps not only contributed to the deployment of new hardware but processed the old gear for Defense Reutilization Marketing Office – formally known as DRMO. Lt. Renzo Sobrevilla and the Material Management team expedited bringing in the new equipment as well as helping remove the old to keep IMD spaces from being completely clogged during the entire process.

Capt. Harlan Dorey, the command’s director of branch clinics and officer in charge of NMRTU Bangor, supported the initial tests to perfect the upgrade process. Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Meier worked the ground level details and gave the green light as the Bangor clinic manager.