Time and time again, it seems that our work centers are buzzing with news of bad experiences at the Naval Hospital. Co-workers saying that in the civilian world the doctors and their staff do a much better job, with more of a focus on specific needs, enabling health problems to not be overlooked. Now I have had some bad run-ins with the Naval Hospital, and I too thought the care at this facility wasn’t as personal or completely adequate. I can honestly say that my view has now changed.

I woke up one recent Sunday morning with what I thought was the beginning of a cold or flu. So, just like any other day, I went to work at the chapel and returned home at 1 p.m., but today I was feeling very ill and knew something was wrong. When 5 p.m. rolled around without any change in my condition, I knew I needed to see a doctor. Knowing that I could not wait to make an appointment, my husband took me to the emergency room at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station .

When I got there they took my blood pressure, and because it was extremely high, I was placed ahead of everyone else. In the examination room, I was greeted by Dr. Barnabee, who with the help of his nurses went right to work to find the problem. First, I was hooked up to monitors and checked for heart trouble. Quickly realizing this was not the cause, Barnabee assured me that he would find out what was wrong and do what he could to help.

Barnabee then ordered blood work, sent me to X-ray, and even called a sonogram tech to run all the tests necessary. Even when I heard whispering among some of the hospital staff that he was running unnecessary tests, this doctor just ignored them all and stayed on task. It got to the point where his shift ended, but he was relentless. He was off duty and still came back to check on me in the sonogram exam room. He proceeded to stay until they found the problem, a rather large cyst growing inside of me that was about 15 centimeters in size. Barnabee had me quickly loaded into an ambulance and taken to Coupeville’s Whidbey General Hospital for a CAT scan.

Getting into the ambulance, I met two of the most wonderful attendants you would ever want to meet. They instructed me to drink a lot of an orange-flavored fluid. Although I can’t remember their names, and I am ashamed of myself for that, they really helped me relax and feel that I was in good hands. Everything was going smoothly, but then all of a sudden, the ambulance started having engine trouble, and blew a head gasket.

There we were, stranded alongside the road. The attendants quickly assured me that everything would be all right, and then they took out fire extinguishers and made sure the ambulance hadn’t caught on fire. The one attendant, who was in back with me, told me that the Naval Hospital’s ambulances were old, and that they had new ones on order but they were still waiting for them to arrive. The attendant tried to call for another ambulance, but the cell phone he had was out of range. Luckily, the driver just happened to have his personal cell phone in his pocket, and saved the day by calling backup.

Soon after his call, three ambulances showed up, as well as the fire and police departments. From there, I was loaded into another ambulance from Whidbey General Hospital and taken to Coupeville.

Now you may be sitting reading this and thinking, “Yep, that’s the Naval Hospital for you, another story of shoddy equipment and substandard care.” The point I want to make is, that is just not the case. The hospital staff does the best they can with the material and machines given. As any other place of employment, the hospital has to make a decision as to what is important to keep up to date or in working condition. Speaking as a former non-believer, the doctor and nurses at the Naval Hospital were among some of the best I have ever encountered. Even when I was sent to Seattle’s University of Washington Hospital for surgery, the quality of care didn’t stop.

Dr. Barnabee continually called the hospital to check on my status. When I got out of surgery the surgeon informed me that she would call my doctor and let him know how I was doing, because he had called several times that day. Then a week later when I returned to Seattle’s special surgery department to have my stitches removed, the surgeon again informed me that Barnabee had called her office to check as see how I was doing. The surgeon then asked me if I would like her to send him a copy of my medical report, I said yes, but he isn’t my regular physician, just the ER doctor at the Naval Hospital. She was shocked that an ER doctor would be so concerned about a patient.

I wanted to let everyone know that I am very proud and thankful for all the help that Dr. Barnabee, the nurses, and the ambulance drivers at the Naval Hospital provided for me.

In closing I would like to give special thanks to Pat Prelvis, a respite care provider, for caring for my children while I was in the hospital. Thought she does get paid for this care, my children were not scared and spent a week in a very loving environment.

Judy Richards is the wife of AMC(AW/MTS) Shawn Richards, who is assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) Six One.