Apr

3

AFMS Deployed News

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The folks at the 447 EMEDS at Sather AB are small in number, but awesome in spirit…

To help alleviate the stress put on the 11 doctors, nurses and medics at the 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron here, Col. Gregory Biernacki, the 447th EMEDS commander, has implemented training for the other 11 non-clinical members of the staff. The medical logistics, administration, public health, dental and bioenvironmental engineering personnel recently went through two weeks of training to teach them basic medical care, such as inserting an IV, assessing injuries, the proper use of a gurney and emergency room standard operating procedures. “The idea is to get everyone up to a level that they can provide trauma care, stabilization and transport,” said Colonel Biernacki, who is deployed from 192nd Medical Group, Virginia Air National Guard. “We’re trying to get the most bang for our buck with all our people.”

And over at Balad AB, a historic piece of infrastructure is being transferred to Washington DC for display…

The emergency room from the old Balad AB Air Force Theater Hospital, which was a temporary tent structure, was recently dismantled and packaged up. It was shipped April 1 to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, where it is slated for exhibition because it is known, by the medical community, as the place where the most American blood was spilled since the Vietnam War.

And speaking of Balad…an AF doc there received a Purple Heart…

Capt. (Dr.) Adrian Barcus, an intensive care unit staff physician for the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, received a Purple Heart and the Iraqi Campaign Medal from Brig. Gen. Burt Field, 332 AEW commander, at the Air Force Theater Hospital here March 7. Dr. Barcus, deployed from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., was injured in the line of duty March 6 from an enemy attack here.

To all of the Air Force medics serving “Over There” — thank you.

Nov

22

Wilford Hall Medical Center

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The largest Air Force medical facility, Wilford Hall Medical Center (aka “WHMC”), celebrated 50 years of service recently. The official name is the 59th Medical Wing, but everybody calls it Wilford Hall. And who was Wilford Hall, you might wonder? Most people don’t know that WHMC is actually named after a real person, Major General Wilford Hall, an Army (and then AF) physician from the 1920s through the late 1950s who also served as a MAJCOM surgeon.

I’ve spent lots of time at WHMC - as a visitor, a patient, an expectant father, and a staff member. When my father needed surgery for prostate cancer several years ago, his brother (a wealthy East Coaster) urged him to have the surgery done at a famous New York hospital by a renowned surgeon, and offered to pay all of the expenses; my father flatly refused and put his trust in the staff at WHMC. Of course, everything went smoothly, the cancer was completely removed, and my father has had no recurrence of cancer. It was a lesson for my uncle, who for years had believed that military medicine was somehow inferior to civilian healthcare.

And, like so many young Airmen, I had my wisdom teeth removed at WHMC. And in the early 90s, my daughter was born at WHMC - Dr Stanton Bailey did the delivery - and despite 17 hours of labor and a last-minute emergency C-section, everything turned out great, and we were treated with the utmost kindness and professionalism.

And a few years ago I was assigned to WHMC for one year as part of an educational (AFIT) assignment. I learned alot about the challenges involved in running a huge hospital, and came to appreciate even more the amazing people who serve there. Besides the medical care that happens in the building, it really is like a small town, with a small store, dry cleaners, coffee bar, restaurant (chow hall), post office, newspaper, and other “amenities” that enable the medics to get the job done.

An amazing place. There’s plenty of news about the history of WHMC at the AF News “Heritage To Horizons” page.

Apr

29

AFMS Flight Path - On Hold

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Breaking news on Friday: the implementation of the new “AFMS Flight Path” has been put on hold indefinitely. Quite a shock, considering how much effort has been put into the plan to re-design the organizational structure of many Air Force medical facilities. Several medical units were only weeks or months away from making the transition, preparing to eliminate the “Group-Squadron” model and moving to the “Group-Division” model.
Some background: back in 1993 (although largely implemented beginning in 1994), the AFMS began re-organizing medical facilities to look more like regular military units. Prior to 1994, most MTFs had a single commander, and were led by an executive team consisting of a chief of medical staff, chief nurse, administrator, etc - just like most civilian healthcare facilities. With the advent of the “Objective Medical Group” (OMG) concept in 1994, MTFs were organized according to product lines, roughly, to include Medical Operations squadrons, Aerospace Medicine squadrons, Medical Support squadrons, and a few others, all aligned under and reporting to the MTF Commander (Group Commander). Each of those subordinate units had a Squadron Commander, and usually an associated Superintendent. The result: the “executive staff” of AFMS facilities grew exponentially, now including the aforementioned chief physician, chief nurse, administrator, etc, and now also to include all of the squadron commanders. More administrative staff, more overhead.
Fast-forward to 2006: the Air Force Medical Service, after many meetings and planning sessions among senior leaders, unveils a new “Flight Path” that aims to reduce the administrative overhead and streamline operations in many MTFs. To that end, it is decided that Air Force clinics that have fewer than 300 assigned personnel - roughly 30 of the 75 facilities - will become “groups without squadron.” This meant that the facility would still be a Group, with a Colonel commander, but the subordinate squadrons would be eliminated. Instead of squadrons, the unit would be divided into Divisions - Operations, Aeromedical, and Dental - and all administrative functions (business ops, logistics, info systems, etc) would align directly under the Administrator in the “Group Staff” section, rather than a separate squadron. So a small Air Force clinic would now have one Commander (Group level), rather than three Commanders (one Group, two Squadron). Many Air Force clinics were preparing to make the transition in the summer of 2007, with others to follow through the summer of 2008.
But on Friday, that was put on hold. No specific reasons given, yet, but there will no doubt be a flurry of meetings among senior AFMS leaders and their Line counterparts.