JASPER — The U.S. Department of Defense in partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District is presenting Ozark Wellness Innovative Readiness Training through July 25. This is a clinic providing medical, behavioral health, dental, optical and veterinary care at no cost.
Clinics were set up last Monday and Tuesday on the Jasper School campus and the Kingston School campus.
The services are offered on a first come, first serve basis - while supplies last.
These services include:
Medical: Health exams, sports physicals and behavioral health care.
Optometry: Eye exams and one pair single vision lens glasses.
Dental: Exams, cleanings, extractions and fillings.
Veterinary: Exams, spay/neuter operations and rabies vaccines. Veterinarian services will be provided at the Jasper location only.
So what should people expect when they arrive at either of the respective sites?
Maj. Tanee Nimsakont and Captain Tricia Felin, US Army Reserves, speaking last Monday afternoon at the Jasper School, explained the process patients will experience once arriving at the front entrance of the respective school building.
The client will go over to the Patient Administration Team where they will be checked-in. No insurance or identification is required.
The last patient must be checked in one hour before close that day.
A medic will greet the patient, note the patient's request for service and perform an assessment to determine if other programs offered would benefit the patient. Then the patient will be escorted by a soldier member of the mission to the initial service area which will be located in a classroom. From there, the patient will receive personalized individual attention for the remainder of their visit, said Felin.
Volunteers from the community will provide an area where children can wait while their parents are being provided services. The location will be near the school entrance. They can be picked up by their parents before leaving the clinic, Nimsakont added. Security is being stressed as an important part of the mission.
On Monday, the officers reported that all of the necessary equipment for some of the programs had not arrived as scheduled. Tuesday was scheduled as a soft opening with services being offered only from 1-5 p.m.
The one thing the mission officers said they do't want to happen is to over-promise and under-deliver.
Dental services will be limited the first couple of days. Initially offered will be visual oral examinations, smoking cessation counseling, hygiene instruction and cancer screening. Patients needing fillings, extractions or cleanings should wait further into the mission, Nimsakont said. It has been noted that dental services will be limited on July 25.
Behavioral health services are ready. A unit ministry team is available.
On the medical side, the physician and nurse practitioner have said they would prefer to see during the first few days as many patients as possible wanting school physical examinations. Patients should have student exam forms from their schools, if possible.
Optometry was still being set up in Jasper, but it was already set up at Kingston on Monday.
The logistic situation on the arrival of equipment was being monitored nearly minute to minute, Nimsakon said on Monday.
Here is the schedule for the remainder of the mission:
July 17 - 20 - 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
July 21 - 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
July 22-24 - 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
July 25 - 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
