Each quarter Navy Medicine East (NME) recognizes military treatment facilities (MTF) and those working in them as the Best of the Best based on patient satisfaction ratings captured through the Joint Outpatient Experience Survey (JOES).

Two providers within Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune (NMCCL) Family Medicine Clinic ranked in the top 20 of MTF primary care providers in all of NME.

Both Lt. Cmdr. Elizabeth Leonard and Emilie Collins, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), achieved 100 percent satisfaction ratings from more than 20 surveys completed by their patients last quarter.

As two of the top 20 providers in NME, Collins and Leonard explained, the recognition belonged to their entire team.

Meeting the patients’ needs and finding success as a clinic is something Collins said is only possible as a team.

“The recognition should be for the entire red team from the clerks who check the patient in, the nurses who assist with procedures/phone calls, the CMA/CNA staff who interviews and does vital signs and many other people along the way,” said Collins. “It is not just about one person.”

Since 2005, Collins has been treating patients here at NMCCL, first as a registered nurse while on active-duty, and now as a civilian nurse practitioner.

Caring for patients has been a major motivator for Leonard, who chose Family Medicine shortly after joining the Navy.

The recognition for 100 percent patient satisfaction is a testament to this, she said.

“I love doing patient care, absolutely enjoy it,” said Leonard. “It can be sad at times, as well as happy, but it is always a chance for me to connect with other people, and I feel like this showed me that I have been connecting with my patients. I also sent the email to my dad, who is a retired Navy doctor. He thought it was pretty neat too!” Leonard has been at NMCCL since 2012.

She not only sees patients within Family Medicine; Leonard is the program director for the Camp Lejeune Family Medicine Residency program.

Family Medicine Department Head Cmdr. Michael Barna explained the JOES Survey recognition is a testament to the entire team Collins and Leonard lead to deliver, “timely, compassionate medicine to our patients.”

“To paraphrase FNP Collins and Cmdr. Leonard, the JOES survey highlighted patient satisfaction with individual providers, but the credit should be given to the staff who help them every day to make great care a reality.” said Barna.

Along with the personal provider recognition through the survey, NMCCL as a whole, ranked in the top ten of Military Treatment Facilities Primary Care Clinics’ category for the same quarter, achieving a 95 percent satisfaction rating from patients who completed the survey.

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