VA NY Harbor Healthcare System

Dr. Nancy Lutwak, Women Veterans Champion in the Emergency Department, and Dr. Regina Jacob review several of the causes of pelvic pain and irregular bleeding displayed on the teaching model.

The Emergency Department at the New York Campus of the VA-NY Harbor Healthcare System is improving and expanding care for the growing number of Women Veterans using VA health care. According to Dr. Curt Dill, Chief of Emergency Medicine (at the NY Campus), a decade ago it would be rare for a woman of childbearing age to need gynecologic care in a VA Emergency Department and now it is becoming routine. Since this is a new trend, he also believes that many VA providers would benefit by refreshing their skills, especially if their training program had limited focus in providing gynecologic care.

Nationally, the VA Women Veterans Health Strategic Health Care Group, in partnership with the SimLEARN, developed a number of education program in Women’s health care topics by using state-of-the-art simulation equipment. Therefore, Dr. Dill and Dr. Nancy Lutwak, Women Veterans Champion in the ED, sought to leverage these programs and extend the training to include emergency conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, sexual assault and pain. According to Dr. Lutwak, practicing on the realistic simulation models substantially improves examination accuracy and comfort.

In addition to the educational initiatives, the VA Emergency Department purchased a new state-of-the-art examination table and lighted speculums to improve accuracy and comfort. In the near future, the ED will be acquiring new laboratory tests and ED-based ultrasound equipment.

Dr. Dill is quick to point out that the Emergency Department is critically linked to the larger healthcare system and is thankful to Chief of Staff Michael Simberkoff, MD and Associate Director Jodie Jackson for their support of this initiative. He also points out that there are dozens of dedicated professionals at both campuses of the Harbor developing programs that improve the provision of care for all Women Veterans.

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