Turner Commends Secondary Care Providers
By Congressman Michael Turner (OH-03)
January 11, 2008
Undergoing a serious medical treatment is a stressful and trying time. For our military members, receiving this treatment away from their homes and family members adds an additional burden to their recovery. Within the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a compassionate care organization called the Fisher House that provides a temporary home free of charge to service members or military families undergoing medical treatment.
Military members deploy worldwide and receive medical care where the treatment is best but not always closest to home. For that reason, there is a real logistical challenge of housing both the patient and their family while treatment is provided. In addition to the worries about safety, health, and the future are concerns about how to pay for treatment and handle everyday responsibilities. As medical costs and expenses continue to pile up there is often not enough money left to pay for lodging or meals.
According to Wright-Patterson Fisher House Executive Director Chris Stanley, the Fisher House assisted more than 750 military families in 2007. Over the course of the 17 years they have been in existence, they have helped thousands of military families. Service members of any rank and any branch of the armed forces can stay in Fisher House. The Fisher House organization also has over 38 homes in over 25 locations across the world. Additionally, active duty troops, National Guard, Reservists, and retired soldiers and their families are all welcome at Fisher House. This offers not only a cost saving opportunity for military families but also a chance to spend time as a family while still retaining access to vital medical care.
The Third Congressional District of Ohio is home to over 60,000 veterans and tens of thousands of service members. As our soldiers return home from defending our country in Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them sustain injuries that require treatment. As a result, there is a real demand for compassionate care providers like the Fisher House to expand and upgrade their facilities.
This is why the Wright-Patterson Fisher House will break ground on a new home on April 25th, 2008. According to Chris Stanley, the current Nightingale House is a multi-story base house that was converted over from a pair of three-bedroom units into an eight-bedroom facility. The new Fisher House will be a single story, 13 bedroom facility each with its own handicapped-accessible bathrooms. It will also be approximately 10,000 square feet with living rooms, a kitchen and dining room, and upgraded laundry facilities. The new facility will also be within walking distance of the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.
The projected cost of the new Fisher House is $2 million and the Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc. has been challenged to raise $1 million of that through private fundraising. Those interested in learning more about the Fisher House and their service to our armed forces should visit the official website at www.fnhi.org, call Chris Stanley at (937) 672-8724, or write to Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc., Post Office Box 33871, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433.
I commend the Fisher House organization and their staff for the vital role they fill for our nation’s armed forces. I look forward to visiting the new and upgraded Fisher House once it is completed and continuing to work on behalf of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the veterans of the Third District of Ohio.
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By Congressman Michael Turner (OH-03)
January 11, 2008
Undergoing a serious medical treatment is a stressful and trying time. For our military members, receiving this treatment away from their homes and family members adds an additional burden to their recovery. Within the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a compassionate care organization called the Fisher House that provides a temporary home free of charge to service members or military families undergoing medical treatment.
Military members deploy worldwide and receive medical care where the treatment is best but not always closest to home. For that reason, there is a real logistical challenge of housing both the patient and their family while treatment is provided. In addition to the worries about safety, health, and the future are concerns about how to pay for treatment and handle everyday responsibilities. As medical costs and expenses continue to pile up there is often not enough money left to pay for lodging or meals.
According to Wright-Patterson Fisher House Executive Director Chris Stanley, the Fisher House assisted more than 750 military families in 2007. Over the course of the 17 years they have been in existence, they have helped thousands of military families. Service members of any rank and any branch of the armed forces can stay in Fisher House. The Fisher House organization also has over 38 homes in over 25 locations across the world. Additionally, active duty troops, National Guard, Reservists, and retired soldiers and their families are all welcome at Fisher House. This offers not only a cost saving opportunity for military families but also a chance to spend time as a family while still retaining access to vital medical care.
The Third Congressional District of Ohio is home to over 60,000 veterans and tens of thousands of service members. As our soldiers return home from defending our country in Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them sustain injuries that require treatment. As a result, there is a real demand for compassionate care providers like the Fisher House to expand and upgrade their facilities.
This is why the Wright-Patterson Fisher House will break ground on a new home on April 25th, 2008. According to Chris Stanley, the current Nightingale House is a multi-story base house that was converted over from a pair of three-bedroom units into an eight-bedroom facility. The new Fisher House will be a single story, 13 bedroom facility each with its own handicapped-accessible bathrooms. It will also be approximately 10,000 square feet with living rooms, a kitchen and dining room, and upgraded laundry facilities. The new facility will also be within walking distance of the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.
The projected cost of the new Fisher House is $2 million and the Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc. has been challenged to raise $1 million of that through private fundraising. Those interested in learning more about the Fisher House and their service to our armed forces should visit the official website at www.fnhi.org, call Chris Stanley at (937) 672-8724, or write to Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc., Post Office Box 33871, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433.
I commend the Fisher House organization and their staff for the vital role they fill for our nation’s armed forces. I look forward to visiting the new and upgraded Fisher House once it is completed and continuing to work on behalf of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the veterans of the Third District of Ohio.
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