News Search

ArticleS

BRAC has positive impact on the Air Force's largest medical wing

  • Published
  • By Linda Frost
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Base Realignment and Closure Law of 2005 has finally come to a completion and the 59th Medical Wing enters a new era of military medical care in San Antonio.

The BRAC law mandated many positive changes to medical care here. The successful transition of in-patient services from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, established an integrated medical team of top-notch Air Force and Army staff dedicated to high quality care for 230,000 DoD beneficiaries in this metropolitan city.

As part of the in-patient services move, the 59th Medical Wing relocated approximately 2,000 Air Force and civilian medical personnel, now serving side-by-side with their Army colleagues at the San Antonio Military Medical Center, a state-of-the-art facility, located about 17 miles from Lackland AFB.

"It's been a huge project," said Col. Glenn Yap, 59th Medical Wing administrator. "Everyone should be very proud of what we've accomplished."

"Although our in-patient care mission moved to the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, our commitment to patient-centered care is stronger than ever," added Yap. "We look forward to working with our Army colleagues at SAMMC to continue to provide all our beneficiaries high quality, compassionate care that our patients deserve."

Another major change, effective today, is that Wilford Hall Medical Center transitions to the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, or WHASC, offering outpatient services and same day surgery to its DoD beneficiaries. The WHASC is now jointly staffed and is the largest ambulatory surgical center in the Department of Defense.

Maj. Gen. Byron Hepburn, commander of the 59th MDW, is the first WHASC commander and Army Col. Mary Ann McAfee is the deputy commander.

Medical services include a full spectrum of primary care; around-the-clock urgent care; and pediatric, surgical, subspecialty, and ancillary support for 38 specialties. The WHASC will also continue to support the contingency aeromedical staging facility for the nation's wounded warriors and the Eye, Hearing, and Diabetes Centers of Excellence.

Construction is now underway on a site in front of the current medical campus, for a new $476 million state-of-the art surgical center that includes a, 681,000-square foot facility, which will be comprised of four wings, each three stories tall with a basement, and a 1,000-car parking garage.

"Long-term we will have a new ultra-modern, patient friendly, more accessible, and a more energy efficient medical campus and facility at Lackland Air Force Base, reflecting the high quality of care we provide our patients," said Hepburn.

The expected completion date for the new ambulatory surgical center is 2015. Out-patient services will continue in the existing facility and once the new building is complete, the current 54-year-old building will be removed.

The medical BRAC transition required years of professional planning. The first major move from Wilford Hall began last summer when the hospital's trauma department staff moved its mission to Fort Sam Houston. The Emergency Department was re-designated an Urgent Care Center in July 2011, which now provides acute and non-emergency care to eligible DoD beneficiaries 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Another significant move was the recent relocation of the Hauth Birthing Center and its staff to the SAMMC. The birthing center boasts a reputation as a worldwide tertiary referral center and a premier tri-service teaching unit. Highly trained medical professionals from the 59th MDW continue to provide the same high-quality, patient-centered care at their new location on Fort Sam Houston.

The 59th MDW also restructured under the Joint Base San Antonio portion of the BRAC. That component of the law was fulfilled on Jan. 31, 2010, with the realignment of the medical groups at Lackland and Randolph under the 59th MDW, making the wing the component command of all Air Force medical care in San Antonio. With the re-designation of the 359th and 559th Medical Groups at Randolph and Lackland respectively, the 59th MDW grew into a seven-group wing with over 6,000 personnel assigned.

Army and Air Force medics working together is nothing new. For many years in this city, military doctors and nurses from the two Services have trained together in joint graduate medical education programs. Around the world, Airmen and Soldiers have worked and continue to work side by side, saving thousands of lives on the battlefield and on the home front.

"The BRAC Law just takes it to the next logical step, while providing much newer facilities for patients and staff and better access to care and treatment," said Hepburn. "The cost advantages achieved in combining our efforts will allow us to leverage our resources and expertise in a way that we were not able to before. We're making an A plus team an A plus plus team," added Hepburn.

"In the months ahead, we will work synergistically with our Army colleagues to ensure a premier San Antonio Military Health System dedicated to delivering high quality patient-centered healthcare with a clear focus on safety and customer service, providing first-rate graduate medical education and training and conducting state-of-the-art research while maintaining a first-class global readiness mission with the best trained military medical professionals in the world," he said.