News Search

ArticleS

Military leaders embark on integrated health care system

  • Published
  • By Linda Frost
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Military health care in San Antonio is evolving to another level and will have a positive effect on patients and medical organizations, both military and civilian.

The Air Force and Army have come together to operate an effective and efficient integrated regional healthcare system dedicated to providing high quality, patient-centered care that is convenient and accessible to its 230,000 DoD beneficiaries in the San Antonio metropolitan area.

The new San Antonio Military Health system, or SAMHS, spurred by the integration of military medical services at Fort Sam Houston and Lackland Air Force Base, will oversee all Army and Air Force medical treatment facilities here, to improve business processes and develop innovative approaches to care.

"We continually seek ways to improve and build upon our successes. With a combined economic impact of (more than) $1 billion annually, military medicine in San Antonio will always play a significant role in the fiscal health of this region," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Byron Hepburn, commander of the 59th Medical Wing and designated the first director of SAMHS.

Named deputy director is Army Maj. Gen. Ted Wong, commander of the Southern Regional Medical Command and Brooke Army Medical Center. The positions will rotate Services every two years.

A SAMHS executive office will be staffed with existing personnel, who will oversee clinical operations and business operations for the area's military treatment facilities.

"We will take our talented staff from both services and each other's best practices to create an integrated health system that is the envy of military and civilian healthcare organizations across the nation," added Wong .

SAMHS will strengthen interagency collaboration between the services and community healthcare organizations, the Veterans Administration, and other federal organizations, while optimizing both the direct and private sector healthcare network systems in the market area.

"The collaboration and economies of scale we achieve in combining our efforts is a win-win for everyone," said Hepburn. "By leveraging our resources and expertise in a way we were not able to before, we will all gain from these efficiencies by providing better facilities, improved educational opportunities and better access to care and treatment for our active duty military members, veterans, retirees and their family members."

Hepburn said the goal is to create a "premier health system dedicated to enhancing quality care, advancing biomedical research, enriching graduate medical education and training, and maintaining a first-class global readiness mission."

San Antonio has one of the largest concentrations of Department of Defense medical beneficiaries in the U.S. The city is a key strategic location and critical resource for military medicine. Direct patient care, training and research provide a continuous learning environment for military and civilian medical personnel, as well as being a center for care provided to wounded warriors from all the services.

"Patients are our first priority and the reason for our existence and purpose. We will treat all with the compassion and respect that they deserve," noted Wong.

The health system will oversee more than 11,000 healthcare workers, to include physicians, nurses, support and administrative personnel in the eight military treatment facilities across San Antonio.

Within this system, health care services are provided by the San Antonio Military Medical Center, or SAMMC, at Fort Sam Houston, and the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, or WHASC, at Lackland Air Force Base.

SAMMC is now a Level 1 trauma center and DoD's largest inpatient hospital. WHASC is the DoD's largest ambulatory surgical center. These two military treatment facilities offer 19 primary care clinics and more than 100 specialty services.

While both SAMMC and WHASC will be staffed with Air Force and Army personnel, they will continue to be commanded by an Army and Air Force general officer, respectively.

"As we look forward to the future of military medicine here in San Antonio, the citizens of 'Military City USA' should be proud of the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, and our supporting clinics," said Hepburn. "We are excited about the establishment of the San Antonio Military Health System and the opportunities it will afford our patients and the city of San Antonio in the years ahead."