Iraqi official tours Joint Base Balad medical facilities

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jake Richmond
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) --  The Iraqi deputy governor of the Salah Ad Din Province visited the Air Force Theater Hospital and Sgt. Ivory L. Phipps Clinic here Aug. 5 to develop ideas for improving health care within his district.

Ahmed al-Krayem toured units within the facility and talked to several members of the hospital. 

Maj. David Carnahan, the hospital's chief of medical staff, tailored the tour to trace the progress of a seriously injured patient through admission, emergency room care, the intensive care unit, and the intermediate care ward.

"The way the hospital staff welcomed us impressed me," said Deputy Governor al-Krayem, via an interpreter. "They were extremely generous with their time and explanations. It makes us feel even more like everyone is willing to help."

The deputy governor and his staff then visited the Army's Phipps Clinic, and got a feel for a smaller-scale medical mission that involves triage, blood work, physical examinations, immunizations, X-rays, and ophthalmology.

David Stewart, a U.S. State Department foreign service officer and leader of the Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team, saw clear benefits to both stops on the tour.

"The (AFTH) staff, from command on down to the individual briefers, provided a big welcome and an impressive level of professional attention to the deputy governor," he said. "But the clinic might actually be a more realistic immediate goal for the local leadership. The kind of technology at the hospital might not be attainable right away, but the clinic is simple. It showed (the dignitaries) a model of organization, cleanliness and efficiency. That's something they can accomplish in the short-term."

Deputy Governor al-Krayem echoed some of those sentiments.

"It made me excited and happy to see such a big, effective hospital right here in the area," he said. "But I also saw something that made me sad. Seeing the capabilities of the U.S. hospital made it clearer what we lack out in the cities. The hospitals in Salah Ad Din are just not good enough. There's not enough medical expertise. After looking into it, we found that we needed some evolution in the health system. It's extremely important to the citizens. If we can improve the medical care, then we can move on to other quality-of-life issues."

He said he hopes to continue to get help from U.S. forces in the areas of idea-sharing and specialized training for Iraqi doctors.

"The first step is working with the coalition forces in civil matters, which is much different from military security," he said. "The civil issues were being ignored for a while by both sides, since both were more focused on military goals. Now, we want to focus on improving the coordination between our respective agencies."

Mr. Stewart emphasized the value of the new civil affairs-oriented mission and how it depends on a clear-cut conceptual process.

"We want to connect the goals of the Iraqi leadership with the capacities of the U.S. military," he said. "If you start with the Iraqi leadership, then move to the PRT coordination stage, then integrate military resources, something good happens. If you take any part of the equation out, it can't work. In this case, my first meeting with (Deputy Governor al-Krayem) identified health services as one of his key priorities. One good way to help him with that is to show him how a world-class hospital and a high-efficiency clinic operate, and present him with potential training opportunities."

The deputy governor said he learned plenty from the visit and hopes it's not the last of its kind.

"Once I leave here, we'll have another meeting with the PRT leadership and figure out what we can do," he said. "My message to the American forces is to please give us whatever you can. We are your partners. Please join with us as equals to rebuild our country. It needs a lot of work."