Helping Camp Lejeune nurses train for deployments. Bolstering desperately in-demand mental health services for the military and Eastern North Carolina residents.
They’re two critical healthcare needs that are being addressed as part of strategic collaborations between Novant Health, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune and UNC School of Medicine. The programs, already underway, could be a model for the military and healthcare systems across the U.S. to replicate.
"These partnerships demonstrate healthcare leadership at its best – identifying critical needs and creating innovative solutions that benefit North Carolina," said N.C. Rep. Kyle Hall. "The psychiatry residency addresses one of our most pressing healthcare challenges while creating a supportive environment where military personnel can receive confidential care without fear of career impacts."
Hall was part of group of state legislators and staff that visited Camp Lejeune March 3. Novant Health leaders joined military medicine officials to discuss the unique medical education programs, demonstrating firsthand how collaboration can elevate care and improve quality of life. It’s long been understood: Exchanging expertise can bring benefits to all involved and enhance delivery of services to the public.
Military nurse training
This nurse training partnership, which started in 2019, brings ICU nurses from Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune (NMCCL) to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, about 35 miles away. The Lejeune trainees – all licensed nurses – work with an assigned nurse mentor who’s often a retired or reserve member of the military. The training runs for 15 weeks.
While at New Hanover, they’re likely to treat patients with head injuries and bleeds inside their brain, while others may have multiple chronic conditions to manage in addition.
The goal is to make sure nurses are ready for deployments that could take them across the globe to a vast array of situations, including war zones. In addition to hands-on training, NMCCL nurses attend clinical classes that cover topics such as stroke, neurological care, trauma, cardiac care, resuscitation and transport.
The bottom line: This collaboration enhances patient care, strengthens emergency response capabilities and ensures a highly skilled nursing workforce ready to serve in any environment.
New psychiatry residency program
It’s hardly a secret: America is in desperate need of more mental health services as the nation struggles with a huge shortfall of professionals to provide care. And in rural Eastern North Carolina, the chasm is even wider.
There are additional challenges for those serving our country. There’s the ever-present possibility of deployments that can upend plans and entire families, and pressures that can lead to conditions like anxiety and depression.
To help overcome these obstacles and promote a culture of privacy, the new psychiatry residency program at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center is providing Eastern North Carolina’s residents, including its large military population, with one-on-one care and bringing more mental health clinicians to the region.
The four-year residency program, a partnership with the UNC School of Medicine and Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, is accelerating access to care for the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, is home to more than 38,000 active-duty members and their families.
Each year, the program will accept three military and four civilian resident physicians. During training, they will provide mental health care services for veterans and active-duty family members at NMCCL. Once fully trained and licensed as military psychiatrists, they can help colleagues wherever they are, at home or abroad.
During summer 2024, the program’s first resident physicians began training at New Hanover Regional Medical Center to treat both military and civilian patients experiencing mental health issues of all types, including traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders.
It’s yet another example of the benefits of collaboration.
"What truly distinguishes Novant Health's approach is our focus on the patient experience," said Dr. Joseph Pino, senior vice president of medical education and research at Novant Health. "We recognize that healthcare isn't just about treating conditions – it's about caring for people. By bringing together military medicine, academic expertise and community healthcare, we’ve created a system where care is smoother, more connected and more compassionate."
