Secretary of Defense takes action in response to last year's mandate.
Just an issue ago, we posed the question of whether the Secretary of Defense would comply with Section 704 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, which mandated that the secretary "provide chiropractic services to active-duty military personnel at 11 additional military treatment facilities that do not currently provide chiropractic services" no later than Sept. 30, 2009. According to a June 30 press release from the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System announcing the 11 new locations, that mandate is being followed.
Active-duty service members will have access to chiropractic services this fall at six new Army medical treatment facilities, four Navy facilities and one Air Force facility, including - for the first time - several overseas locations; two in Germany and one in Japan. According to the release, chiropractic care will be up and running at the 11 sites by the Sept. 30 deadline stipulated by last year's legislation. Here are the 11 new sites by service branch and location:
| Army |
- Irwin Army Community Hospital, Fort Riley,Kan.
- Lyster Army Health Clinic, Fort Rucker,Ala.
- Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, FortPolk, La.
- Bassett Army Community Hospital, FortWainwright, Alaska
- Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany
- Grafenwoehr Army Health Clinic, Germany
|
| Navy |
- Naval Health Clinic Quantico, Va.
- Naval Branch Health Clinic Groton, Conn.
- Naval Hospital Lemoore, Calif.
- U.S. Naval Hospital, Okinawa, Japan
|
| Air Force |
- 1st Special Operations Medical Group,Hurlburt Field, Fla.
|
"Increasing the number of military men and women with access to the essential services provided by doctors of chiropractic is an accomplishment we can all be proud of, especially with the long-overdue expansion to overseas facilities," said Dr. Glenn Manceaux, ACA president. "Research has shown that the most common pain complaint among injured soldiers is low back pain, and let there be no doubt, doctors of chiropractic are the ideal providers to not only treat back pain, but also to help our service members prevent injuries."
The 11 new facilities join 49 military clinics and hospitals that currently provide chiropractic services to active-duty personnel. For a complete list of facilities, visit www.tricare.mil/ChiropracticCare. The ACA suggests doctors of chiropractic monitor www.usajobs.gov for information on applying positions at one of the new sites.
