Healthcare directly affects mission preparation, said Darrin Selnick, who fulfills his duties as the defence secretary for staff and preparation.
Selnick spoke with medical experts yesterday at a City Hall meeting at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
“What you do is very important,” he said, adding that he intends to ensure the resources needed to succeed.
Sernick said he aims to raise military healthcare to the “highest in the country” level.
“But it takes time. It takes energy. It requires sustainability and the dedication of all staff,” he said.
“Are you an outstanding island of mediocre sea?” asked Selnick. “We have an island of outstanding quality, but our goal is not to have an island of outstanding quality. Our goal is to excel in everything.”
If the fighter jets and their families are not healthy, their “heads will not participate in the game,” he said, and recruitment and retention will suffer.
“We definitely don't want to hide the problem. I ask people to tell them the problem,” Selnick said. It requires an environment of trust where people are not afraid to discuss their concerns in their chain of command.
Selnick said better integration of medical records needs to occur between the military and civilian healthcare systems.
Hiring highly qualified doctors is very competitive, he said. The Veterans Affairs Bureau wants them, the military wants them, and the civilian sector can pay very good money to get them.
One of the advantages of the military is its sacred mission to serve fighters, but Sernick said that better incentives and recruitment processes are needed. One idea is to partner with Academia to support the recruitment pipeline. More ideas will be considered.
