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42nd MDG providing outstanding support to Maxwell-Gunter community

  • Published
  • By Carl Bergquist
  • Air University Public Affairs
The 42nd Medical Group provides deployment ready Airmen and delivers high quality, compassionate and timely healthcare through training, prevention and treatment. 

Through a dozen different initiatives, those mission goals are accomplished by members of the 42nd MDG, said Col. Diana Atwell, Monday. 

Colonel Atwell noted that members of the 42nd MDG "consider recommendations and suggestions from customers as gifts and opportunities to make the services they provide better for all beneficiaries." 

"We use the advice to make life more comfortable for our patients," she said. "It is also important that we regularly meet with our civilian partners downtown." 

Col. Brian Witt, 42nd MDG deputy commander, said partnership with the local medical community is very important to the success of the base medical group. 

"We have and want to partner with the local community medical facilities such as the Veterans' Administration, Jackson and Baptist hospitals," he said. "We also hold an annual dinner for our partners and would like to bring them to the base for a mission statement and a tour of Maxwell-Gunter." 

Lt. Col. Andrew Meadows, 42nd Aeromedical-Dental Squadron commander, mentioned that 42nd MDG personnel have made a change at Flight Medicine to include a new Tonotometer for the flight medical clinic. 

"Patients undergoing flight physicals used to have to depart Flight Medicine to visit the Optometry Clinic in the middle of an appointment to have a procedure done that took less than a minute," he said. "The solution our personnel came up with was to purchase an additional machine for Flight Medicine, and that resulted in better customer service by reducing the time required for flight physicals." 

Lt. Col. Pamela Bement, 42nd MDG chief nurse, said the clinic is in the process of initiating a new Family Healthcare Initiative, and she "enjoys the feeling of being a steward" who helps get 42nd Medical Group members involved. They are providing their input and helping 42nd MDG achieve their vision. 

Lt. Col. Lisa Schmidt, 42nd Medical Operations Squadron commander, said personnel at the medical group do "so much" to assist fellow Air Force members, their dependents, area retirees and the many visitors to Maxwell-Gunter. 

"An example is the health training and care we give the 2,300 to 2,400 Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students who come here each summer for training," she said. "Not only does the 42nd MDG care for them here at Maxwell, but some MDG members accompany students to the Camp Shelby, Miss., Army training facility as well." 

Colonel Atwell said there are many other ways the men and women of the 42nd MDG fulfill their duties as members of the Air Force that benefit the community. 

"Two examples of high quality initiatives the medical group is involved in are humanitarian missions and productivity enhancements," she said. "We have been involved in many humanitarian missions because the 42nd MDG has proven their expertise in this area over and over again and has always stepped up to the plate when called upon to lead a mission. As for our optometry clinic, it is considered one of the most productive operations in the Air Force. Often, you can get an appointment the very same day you call when you might have to wait as long as a month at other medical groups." 

All of these initiatives were generated while developing the 42nd MDG strategy map. 

"Everything we do fits on the map," she said. "By mandatory regulatory requirements, we have to cover certain topics on a monthly basis. These requirements have been incorporated in to our map. Our strategy map is our compass keeping our energy focused in the right direction." 

Lt. Col. Christopher Phillips, the group's Medical Support Squadron commander, agreed saying "the strategy map has streamlined our presentation process and allows members to cover what is important." 

"When we look at the map, if something doesn't fit, we can ask if it needs to be there at all and if it does, how do we make it fit into our strategy." 

Leighanne Cox, 42nd MDG chief of quality improvement, said the map has "opened everyone's eyes" at the medical group in terms of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century and has made the group leaner.