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Increased opportunities for surgical procedures are currently available at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for retirees, Department of Defense civilian employees and family members.
“When the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were busy, our focus was treating wounded warriors arriving at LRMC from theater,” said Col. (Dr.) Brian Sonka, chief of the Division of Surgery at LRMC. “Now that the flow of patients has thankfully slowed down from the Middle East, Landstuhl wants to allow greater access to care to our beneficiaries and the opportunity to keep our surgeons gainfully employed.”
The surgical specialties at LRMC include orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology, general surgery, neurosurgery, spinal surgery, plastic surgery, urology, obstetrics and gynecology, ear/nose/throat surgery, oral surgery, and occupational and physical therapy.
“There is a lot of capability at Landstuhl, and our surgeons have years of experience dealing with complex trauma and surgical cases from the Middle East, Africa and Eurasia,” said Capt. Rob Davis, chief of LRMC Managed Care. “We want to capitalize on maintaining these skill sets and providing a high level of care to the retirees and DOD civilians in the Kaiserslautern Military Community that support the active-duty population and their families every day.”
The change is especially significant for DOD civilian employees and retirees whose German doctor refers them to a surgical specialist. In most cases, Sonka said retirees and DOD civilians can be seen at LRMC for surgical consultation unless the patient has a problem that requires a specialty or capability not available at LRMC. Other specialties, such as dermatology, endocrinology, rheumatology and gastroenterology, would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
How does this work? How do I access LRMC if I am seeing a host nation provider?
If a retiree or DOD civilian is seeing a host nation provider for primary care and has a specialty care referral, they can either call the LRMC TRICARE office at 590-4830 or 06371-9464-4830 and ask for referral management, or they can bring their referral to the LRMC TRICARE office in person in Bldg. 3744 (near the Army and Air Force Exchange Service gas station) at LRMC.
The LRMC referral management team at the TRICARE office will work with the clinics and/or surgeons at LRMC and facilitate the care, if appropriate. The LRMC referral management team can take referrals in German as well. There is no need to have them translated before contacting the LRMC TRICARE office.
