Readiness is a major element in Navy Medicine with medical treatment facilities possessing unique operational missions. Naval Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida (NHJAX) recently became the ready Fleet Hospital for the East Coast. Additionally, NHJAX is responsible for having a Medical Augmentation Team ready to assist the USS NASSAU (LHA-4) during operational commitments and contingencies. Assignment to these platforms, as well as other deployment requirements, have the NHJAX staff focusing on wartime readiness and simultaneously maintaining the highest standards while carrying out the peacetime mission providing patient care. In August of 2000, the Deputy Surgeon for the United States Navy tasked many elements of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) with determining the cost of readiness. According to the BUMED Readiness and Resources Divisions, it is the overall command impact of meeting readiness requirements--not simply the dollar cost that must be evaluated. Toward this end, this study evaluated the impact of readiness training on several organizational aspects to include: staff and patient satisfaction, as well as, access to care.
