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Balad medical units consolidate

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Allison M. Boehm
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  As patient numbers decrease and U.S. servicemembers begin to leave Iraq as part of the Responsible Drawdown, the medical units on JBB no longer require the space they once needed to support combat operations.

The medical agencies are consolidating into one central location - a joint medical campus that will serve as a central point of care for the inhabitants of the base. The consolidation, which began in January, is slated to be complete in June. The JBB Joint Clinic, which now combines both the Army and Air Force clinics, however, opens April 26 in the same location that previously housed just the Air Force Clinic.

"This consolidation will be of huge benefit," said Lt. Col. Paulette King, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Squadron intensive care ward flight commander. "We will be able to use resources and staffing more efficiently in preparation for the drawdown. We will work as a team and fulfill the medical mission."

In line with the responsible drawdown, the Air Force Theater Hospital is anticipating a significant reduction in manning. With that, they are consolidating key functions within the hospital in order to maintain their current capabilities for patient care.

"This has been a team effort and we are going to be better off once it is complete," said Capt. Tony Barrie, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron clinical engineering flight commander. "By establishing a single point of care with the joint medical campus and integrating the Army and Air Force assets we are creating a continuum of care simply because we are located jointly and will be better able to meet our patients' needs."

The construction of the joint medical campus came to fruition due to the fact that wing leadership was able to articulate a clear vision and provide the support needed to get the plan in motion, said Captain Barrie.

"We created working groups within each section and they identified their requirements with what they needed to make this happen," he explained. "Their vision was to maintain current capabilities with no loss in the service we can provide and do it with less people, and we will be doing just that."

The intensive care unit and the intermediate care ward are now combined, and the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility will also be moving into the hospital. The Air Force public health and bioenvironmental offices will be brought onto the medical campus as well.

All of these moves will help increase the overall capabilities of the AFTH while decreasing the American footprint in preparation toward turnover of the base to the Iraqi military in December 2011.