Penner leaving Drum position

FORT DRUM — After two years as the medical commander here, Col. Jerome Penner III was set to retire knowing that he had improved medical services for the soldiers and families of the 10th Mountain Division.

That is, he was set to retire until he was asked to become the commander of Madigan U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Lewis, Wash. He was far along in the process of applying for civilian jobs when he was offered the command of the third-largest Army hospital in the country.

"I couldn't give up the opportunity to continue to help soldiers and families at Madigan," he said.

That is exactly what Col. Penner has done for the last two years as the commander of Fort Drum Medical Department Activity. In a ceremony at 10 a.m. today at Sexton Field, he will relinquish command of the facility that he has helped expand and change.

Under his command, many things in the world of health care changed at Fort Drum, including:

■ $28 million in renovations to Guthrie Medical Clinic, doubling the size of the facility.

■ $60 million in construction of a Warrior Transition Unit complex with barracks, headquarters offices and dining facility.

■ $8.2 million in renovations of the on-post Wilcox Behavioral Health Clinic.

■ Increase in on-post behavioral health care providers from 34 in 2007 to over 60 in 2009.

■ Creation of the off-post Fort Drum/Samaritan Medical Center Clinic.

The major benefit of all this change was the kind of services available for soldiers and families. In 2007, Fort Drum was battered in the press with complaints that soldiers were not getting access to proper mental health care. At the time, it took soldiers five to eight weeks to see a counselor. That wait has decreased to two or three weeks, which, according to Col. Penner, is well below the industry standard.

While the accusations were flying, he was working to get the community involved to solve the problem. And a solution was found — the Fort Drum/Samaritan Medical Center Clinic, 165 Coleman Ave., which opened in June 2008.

"What a success story. Here is a real example of how a community can work together," he said. "It wasn't just local, it wasn't just Fort Drum. It was that partnership that we had. In the last year, sadly, we've seen 10,000 visits down there. But on the good note, we've seen 10,000 visits down there and before there just was no other capacity for that in the community."

Thomas H. Carman, chief executive officer of SMC, said he couldn't agree more.

"It's a very unique clinic and we are paving new ground," Mr. Carman said. Col. Penner "looked at the total number of potential visits from a brigade that was coming back and at the number of providers he had and realized we didn't have enough providers on or off post. And that we could support it through a community effort."

As an administrative medical officer in the Army, Col. Penner has never taken a job that wouldn't allow him to be "down in the trenches" with soldiers and families. He said he enjoys connecting with them to discuss the medical issues they face.

He brought that same openness to his relationship with the civilian health care providers in the region. He became increasingly active with the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization and became a non-voting member of the Carthage Area Hospital board of directors.

"He was able to really bring the community providers together so they really see what the soldiers' lives are like and what they need to adapt," said Denise K. Young, executive director of the regional health organization. "I've been really impressed with his ability to think outside the box in terms of the services that are needed and available."

Walter S. Becker, Carthage Area Hospital administrator, said Col. Penner has been a great medical commander.

"He's been more involved in the facilities and he has enhanced the relationship tremendously and integrated the services tremendously with our hospital," said Mr. Becker. "He is only a phone call away and we meet very often, and we know their needs there and it's given us an opportunity to expand health care as much as we can for the soldiers."

Col. Penner will be replaced by Col. Bertram C. Providence, a certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and joint-preserving and -replacement procedures for the hip and knee. Col. Providence is coming to Fort Drum from the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, where he was an orthopedic consultant.

Col. Penner said Col. Providence will continue to build on the relationship between the installation and the community.

"It's about the collective accomplishments. It's not just something that Penner brought to the organization. It's the teamwork from out there in the community," said Col. Penner. "As long as we keep that eye on the future and not on the present, we will continue to do very well. It's about letting the community know that we are doing the best we can to protect our most precious resource — our soldiers and their families."