Photo By William Farrow | Wes Johnson, Huntsville Center Medical Division chief, addresses attendees at the...... read more read more
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- There are more than 45 military hospitals and inpatient facilities, 572 military ambulatory care and occupational health facilities and 115 dental clinics in the U.S. and around the world providing healthcare to millions of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, Guardians, retirees and dependents. These medical facilities are the core of the Military Health System (MHS).
The responsibility of managing those military hospitals and clinics worldwide falls to the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Supporting DHA facilities falls on the shoulders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
During a bi-annual DHA Summit Dec. 10-13 at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville (Huntsville Center), more than 100 representatives from DHA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gathered to listen and learn from each other to ensure military hospitals and clinics worldwide provide the support required to care for the joint force.
The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville (Huntsville Center), Little Rock District, and Mobile District make up the Medical Support Teams (MST) executing work on behalf of USACE in support of the DHA and their requirements for Repair/Renewal Renovation support, Operations and Maintenance Support, Initial Outfitting & Transition Support, Furniture/Artwork Support, and Contractor Manpower Support.
Wes Johnson, Medical Division chief, said it is always amazing what can be resolved within a three day time period when all stakeholders are sitting around the table in person and can discuss any issues or concerns affecting the overall mission.
“The MST/DHA summits are there for leadership from the MSTs, USACE, and DHA Facilities Engineering to get together twice a year to plan for that fiscal year’s execution requirements and discuss current execution needs and lessons learned,” Johnson said.
“We go over new systems being developed to support those execution requirements as well as work on standardizing the level of support USACE provides to DHA.”
Roy Hirchak, DHA Facilities Operations Branch chief, said from his perspective benefits of the summits allow collaboration between the MSTs and DHA Facilities Enterprise staff to find solutions for maintenance, operations, construction, surveys, assessment, design, initial outfitting, and other specialized healthcare and medical research support.
“By partnering with our MSTs and discussing DHA challenges collectively, we develop more collaborative, and better solutions. The open dialogue creates better outcomes enabling DHA to meet healthcare requirements world-wide,” Hirchak said.
He said everyone involved knows and understands the importance of DHA’s medical mission worldwide.
“All of us come to work each day to support our military service members, their families, and our beneficiaries,” Hirchak said.
“Our mission is a noble one that directly supports our medical providers that provide the best care in the world. Our collective experiences allow us to find the best solution which enhances DoD healthcare operations with minimal impact. If we stop healthcare, our beneficiaries must rely on the private sector system, delayed medical care, and mission readiness is impacted.”
There are plenty of challenges in the healthcare sector from rising cost of equipment, pharmaceutical and staffing. Balancing the clinical cost and lost care due to construction projects is a major concern.
However, Hirchak said one successful solution is the use of “swing space” when an existing medical facility is undergoing renovations.
“Our MSTs have developed clinical modular facilities within the project scope that allow the clinical staff to continue healthcare in the swing space while the construction team can more efficiently work in an unoccupied space,” Hirchak said.
“We use a similar process with our renovations of sterile processing department that cleans and disinfect surgical equipment. In this case, the contracts include rental trailers with sterile equipment allow for sterilization services while the space is under renovation.”
Another innovative feature, Hirchak said, is with USACE contracts used for the emergency contingencies clause which allows for rapid modification to support natural disasters. When Typhoon Mawar hit Guam in 2023, DHA utilized Andersen Air Force Base’s clinic contract for repairs and returned to healthcare services in less than a week after the storm hit.
“DHA cannot provide care without quality, safe, and purpose-built healthcare space to provide it in,” Hirchak said.
“Our medical facilities are critical to allow the medical mission to occur. By ensuring our facilities are safe, reliable, and comply with Joint Commission, we ensure we are providing the best physical environment to provide healthcare. The building must have the correct temperature, air flows, pressurizations, and other services to allow our providers to take care of our patients.
Hirchak said the support USACE provides to DHA improves the quality of life not only of service members and their families, but also healthcare providers working in the facilities.
“There are studies that correlated the patient experience with the quality of care they receive and the building is critical component in the provision of healthcare,” he said.
“The building in healthcare is the ‘weapons systems’ for a healthcare provider. We want to provide them with the best facilities to take care of the world’s most deserving patients.
Hirchak said the challenge DHA has is its aging infrastructure, and DHA must be ready to respond to assist military treatment facilities and medical leadership.
“Every day is a new challenge managing over 84 million square feet of building across the globe,” Hirchak said.
“The entire team, which includes USACE, and MST teams have a challenging and critically important set of responsibilities.”
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.17.2024 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 487718 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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