Women's Health Clinic implements new policies

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Morgan
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  In the past six months, the Dover Air Force Base Women's Health Clinic has saved the 436th Medical Group more than $60,000 by enhancing its scheduling policy and implementing changes to their dysplasia program.

The clinic sees all active duty, retired, and dependent women from ages in the late teens to older on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. and on Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Building 300.

The clinic's main focus is on health maintenance; specifically including contraception, education, annual pap smears, breast cancer and other visits that may require a referral.

However, one of the goals of the clinic is to lower the amount of referrals to clinics outside the base.

"Our primary task is to support the mission with as little interruption as possible," said Capt. Tammera Mattimoe, the nurse practitioner for the Women's Health Clinic with the 436th Medical Operations Squadron. "We want women at Dover Air Force Base to realize we have a different schedule and we are doing more things now."

The Air Force requires women to have an up-to-date pap smear before deploying. If the pap smear is abnormal, there could be extra steps women will go through to medically qualify to deploy. However, the new schedule and policies at the Dover AFB Women's Health Clinic should help with this.

"The new complete dysplasia program makes it easier for our deploying women to get care quickly with minimal impact to the deployment schedule," said Mattimoe.

"With a new provider comes a new and redefined mission," said Master Sgt. Michelle Adams, the NCO in charge of the Women's Health Clinic. "Our new provider, Captain Tammera Mattimoe is hard working and motivated and she loves to teach."

According to Adams, Mattimoe teaches the importance behind the visits women must make to the clinic. She answers the whys, which is exactly the reason she has begun to teach Leadership Pathways classes on women's health.

Mattimoe's next class is scheduled for Aug. 31, where she will be teaching about birth control. The class is open to any women child bearing age or older and couples are welcome as well.

In the future she hopes to teach more classes on the importance of women's health, to include a step-by-step care guide for women as they progress through different stages in their lives.