Medical group wins Air Force awards

  • Published
  • By Chris McCann
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  When a loved one has to go to the hospital, everyone expects quality care.
The heart monitor should work, the food should be nutritious, the staff concerned and well-trained.

Patients and family members aren't in any mood to know how all this happens, but the behind-the-scenes work is critical.

At the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Department of Defense/Veterans' Affairs Hospital, Airmen of the 673d Medical Group have been winning awards for their work, both with patients and in the background.

Four individuals and two flights of Airmen were recognized by the Air Force Surgeon General for their efforts in 2010, indicating the high quality of care at the facility.

Air Force Major George Hestilow, was recently recognized as the Air Force Research and Special Duty Lab Scientist of the Year for his work with the Air Force Blood Program.

"People are in good hands here," Hestilow said. "We have some incredible clinicians, technicians, and administrators here - and they rival anybody in any of the armed forces and the civilian world."

Now serving as the chief of Laboratory Services at the hospital, he directed blood support for earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, as well as the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood, Texas, shooting, led transfusion practices at 20 sites and was a key driver of fresh-blood initiatives in deployed environments.

Those are just a few achievements among many, including his work on helping the Air Force usher in a new $55-million database endeavor to ease blood tracking across the DoD system.

Air Force Master Sgt. Margaret Cooper, received the award for the Outstanding Biomedical Equipment Repair Senior Noncommissioned Officer for her work.

The section not only repairs everything from wheelchairs to magnetic resonance imaging machines, they worked closely with the Information Services flight to integrate the Essentris electronic medical records system throughout the facility.

"A lot of medical facilities use (Essentris) in some of their sections - we're a pilot program (in the military) for using it throughout the facility," Cooper said.

While it was a daunting task, it eases the workload for inpatient care, as many medical devices - such as heart monitors - can connect directly to the system.

"It pulls all the information directly into the patient's chart," Cooper said. "It takes away some of the manual charting and reduces the chance of errors."

Cooper's section also standardized equipment throughout the facility - using, for example, one kind of infusion pump to dispense intravenous fluid and medications.

"Some medical technicians can work in different areas of the hospital," she said. "This way, they're familiar with the equipment no matter which section they're in."

The Biomedical Equipment section also does operational checks, making sure that the new equipment is up to manufacturer and military medical standards.

Cooper was up against about 10 other NCOs from across the Air Force for the award and credits the people she works with.

"We have an awesome group of technicians here," Cooper said. "I couldn't ask for any better people to work with. They're the ones that really get the job done.

"(The award) showcases that we have some of the best in the business here," she said. "It should bring comfort to anyone that comes to the facility."

The hospital also can boast the 2010 American Academy of Pediatrics' Uniformed Services Section honored Air Force Capt. Heath Wright, a native of Tucson, Ariz., as the Air Force Young Pediatrician of the Year for achievements not only as a pediatrician but for his community involvement.

"The quality of care here is really second to none," Wright said. "We're leaders in our peer group in any way that's measured."

Wright has seen all kinds of health issues in children - from a newborn only weeks ago that had to be taken to the intensive-care unit for a congenital heart defect to rheumatic conditions and cancer.

Wright has volunteered for three years with Saint Baldrick's Foundation, a children's cancer research group, and volunteers as a ski instructor.

"It's really encouraging (to get this award)," he said. "It's hard  to get recognition in the medical field, and it's different from the deployment, frontline idea. And military health care has a stigma - but it's not justified. We provide good, solid care."

The Nutritional Medicine Flight took the Nutritional Medicine Team award for work with the hospital dining facilities, patient meals, as well as community work.

Also recognized were Air Force Master Sgt. Nathaniel Perry and Command Master Sgt. Lewis Dunlap as outstanding senior NCOs, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Walthall, the Outstanding Health Plans Management NCO.

The Information Services Flight was recognized as well, as the top Medical Information Services team. The flight runs the entire communications backbone for the hospital, keeping everything in-house.

With the Essentris system and other specialized medical equipment, it's necessary to have specialized technicians who are trained in those areas, explained Senior Master Sgt. Samuel Hess.

They run separate servers for e-mail and Internet, phone lines, medical equipment, and also network with the Army and VA systems so providers can work on the different systems without major difficulties.

"Lots of our needs can't be supported by the base communications groups, because they're so specific," Hess said. "We're very localized to the medical community."

The hard work paid off for the Information Services Flight - and ultimately for everyone in the JBER community, who can take comfort in the knowledge that they're receiving some of the best care the DoD and VA have to offer.

"It's a great honor to see these individuals and teams recognized at the Air Force level," said 673d Medical Support Squadron commander Lt. Col. Andrea Vinyard.

"Outstanding work is done by the men and women - active duty, contractors, and civilians - of the 673d Medical Group every day."