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Fritz Stain Reviews the Troops
Northeast
Center's Dr. Fritz Stein Reviews the Troops
Lake Katrine, NY,
September 17,
2007: Like all good soldiers, Fritz Stein has an affinity for
the troops - especially our wounded warriors who have been injured in Iraq
and Afghanistan. When you have spent your career as a military doctor and
helped as many soldiers to heal as Fritz Stein has, you simply don’t sit
on the sidelines when you are needed. Not even after you have retired. Dr.
Martin “Fritz” Stein heard the call and volunteered for three months
this past spring and summer at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany, one of the first stops for the wounded soldiers coming off the
battlefield.
Dr. Stein, who is an internist, a nephrologist, a retired Army colonel and
hospital medical director, and a consultant at the Northeast Center for
Special Care in Lake Katrine, NY, was especially interested in the growing
numbers of soldiers with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were arriving at
Landstuhl. Northeast Center for Special Care, which specializes in the
rehabilitation of individuals with brain and spinal cord injury, has just
received approval from the armed services healthcare program, Tri-Care, to
treat military personnel. “We have the expertise right here at our
center to handle the rehabilitation process that these servicemen and
women will need to get back on their feet and back into the community,”
Dr. Stein said.
This is not the first time that Dr. Stein has volunteered at Landstuhl.
Acting upon requests from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dr. Stein spent
several weeks in 1985, 1987 and 1989 supervising staff at the Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center’s hemodialysis unit and did six month stints in
1997 and 2005. But he noted a difference this time around.
“I find the hospital is much busier now and the wounds coming in are
more complex and severe,” Dr. Stein said. “Security around the
hospital is also much tighter. I have been told that there are 31,000
terrorists identified in Germany alone, so you can see that this might
make the hospital a target. No one gets into the hospital without the
proper identification.” Dr. Stein said in past visits, he took photos of
the outside of the hospital for his records. This time he was not
permitted for security reasons.
But Dr. Stein said that the one thing that has not changed is the
dedication of the soldiers there. “I would see men with terrible wounds
at the hospital and they would say to me - ‘just patch me up, doc, and
send me back to my unit. I’ve got to get back to my unit.’ This just
blew me away! It was just incredible the patriotism these young men and
women have. It renewed my faith.”
Will he go back again? Dr. Stein, at 71 a grandfather of 14 and retired
after a 40-year medical career, said he feels he can do the most good by
working at Northeast Center for Special Care helping those with TBI get
better. “No matter when this conflict ends, we will be honored to
provide quality care for these soldiers. Traumatic brain injury is the
signature injury of this war. We don’t have enough rehabilitation
centers to serve our returning troops,” Dr. Stein said. “But it is
gratifying to me to know that we do have an excellent center right here
that will provide superior care and rehabilitation to those returning to
the Northeast. They won’t have travel far from home to get the attention
they need.”
Images (click on thumbnails for larger image):
Media contact: Northeast Center for Special Care, Deborah
Muise, Media and Public Relations Director 845-336-3500
Founded in 1999, Northeast Center for Special Care is a unique inpatient
facility designed to serve medically complex and multiply impaired
individuals with brain injury, spinal cord injury, neurobehavioral
disorders, ventilator and respiratory care needs and other complex medical
needs. Advanced professional skills and innovative therapies are coupled
with an unwavering belief in the potential of every individual to
progress. It is this belief that drives our commitment to help those
recovering at Northeast Center achieve the highest degree of
rehabilitation possible and to reenter the community.
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