Naval Health Clinic Lemoore, local hospital and TRICARE/Health Net Federal Services Conduct Tabletop Exercise

Story by Elaine Heirigs

Naval Health Clinic Lemoore

Lemoore, Calif. — Naval Health Clinic Lemoore (NHCL), its branch clinics, a local area hospital and TRICARE/Health Net Federal Services conducted a comprehensive Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) and Continuity of Operations (COOP) tabletop exercise, May 1.

“This joint exercise marked a significant step towards enhancing emergency preparedness by simulating a possible emergency scenario,” said Karl Kassner, NHCL’s medical emergency manager. The ‘Cyber Eclipse COOP Exercise’ was designed to test the clinic’s incident command protocols and ensure seamless cooperation between healthcare providers and insurance services.”

Participants from all organizations engaged in role-playing discussions to assess each organization’s readiness to maintain operations during an unexpected event, such as a this simulated cyber-attack.

“When NHCL activates its COOP, it is critical to incorporate other health-care organizations and partners as a part of its operating plans to help ensure that together we can maintain critical functions,” said Kassner. “That is why participants for this exercise included the clinic’s healthcare business and information technology departments as well as players from Health Net Federal Services, Adventist Health as well as Naval Branch Health Clinic Fallon.”

NHCL routinely conducts exercises to assess plans, improve skills, and identify gaps in preparedness and response performance. As part of our nation’s critical infrastructure, healthcare facilities large and small must be proactive and move quickly to protect themselves from cyber-attacks that could directly impact the health and safety of patients and the community.

“By doing these exercises, we train to ensure that military personnel and their families receive uninterrupted healthcare services, even in the face of adversity,” said Lt. Cmdr. Cheryl Buckley, director of healthcare business at NHCL.

The clinic’s information technology team shared their knowledge and protocols that could be put into place in the event of a real-life cyber-attack.

“A comprehensive COOP in the healthcare environment is paramount during a cyber-attack,” said Lt. William E. Hogan, Jr., chief information officer and director for administration at NHCL. “These plans ensure swift and coordinated responses, safeguarding patient data, critical systems, and ultimately, saving lives. Protecting patient information is just as important and related to patient safety as any possible physical hazards to our patients and staff.”

Following the exercise, a thorough debriefing was conducted to analyze the performance of all participants and to identify any areas that might require further attention or improvement.

“We reviewed and learned the roles and processes involved in the event of an emergency affecting our patients and importance of not only making changes in workflows during an event, but the importance of planning the return to normal operations,” said Jennifer Brogdon, the TRICARE liaison officer and health systems specialist in the clinic’s healthcare business department.

Naval Health Clinic Lemoore, co-located with Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Lemoore to ensure the readiness of its active-duty service members and improves the lives of military families through the delivery of high-quality healthcare to over 18,000 eligible beneficiaries at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California and NAS Fallon, Nevada. The command also provides dental care and medical administrative support to Navy, Marine Corps, and international students at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Defense Language Institute and the Center for Information Dominance in Monterey, California. The command’s mission is to advance the readiness and health of our warfighters and beneficiaries and invest in our people and partnerships.