JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Beginning in May 2013 and spanning over the course of several years, the 79th Medical Wing will be replacing its current medical facility on Joint Base Andrews. The new 345,000-square foot facility will enhance the 79th Medical Wing's ability to provide world-class medical services to the nation's wounded warriors and the area's service members, retirees and their families who are part of the National Capital Region (NCR) healthcare network.
"Malcolm Grow Medical Clinic and Surgery Center (MGMCSC) is part of an integrated military medical center without walls. You will find Air Force medics everywhere you go in the NCR. The new facility will have state of the art operating room capability, very similar to those you find at Walter Reed and Fort Belvoir. And actually by design very similar so that their surgeons can operate here just as ours go up there now," said Maj. Gen. Gerard Caron, 79th Medical Wing Commander.
The main patient facility, Building 1050, was constructed in 1958 as a 313-bed inpatient chassis. It served as the Air Force's premier medical center on the east coast and military medical portal for patients arriving in the NCR from both CONUS and OCONUS. The mission of MGMCSC has shifted from an inpatient focus to ambulatory care, diagnostic, surgical and therapeutic services.
This project will also move the current dental clinic to the same medical campus for patient and staff convenience. The new dental clinic will expand to 26,612 sq. ft. Current operations at the Joint Base Andrews Dental Clinic on 1601 California Avenue will continue until the new facility is ready for occupancy.
The firm-fixed-price contract was awarded on Oct. 29, 2012 to Manhattan Hunt Joint Venture, based in Tulsa, OK. The total programmed amount for the MGMCSC and the Dental Clinic is $266 million. Construction will start in MGMCSC's main parking lot. Parking during the construction will be vital to continuing operations, so designated parking areas will be announced on the 79th Medical Wing Web Site. Once MGMCSC's new facility is 100% operational, building 1050 will be demolished, making room for additional parking spaces.
"In some ways this is a symbolic event for me today. I was involved with the planning of this as far as getting the finances when I was on the air staff and now we are ending this phase with me leaving and starting a new phase. We are celebrating the conclusion of the plan and design phase of our military construction project for the new Malcolm Grow Medical Clinic and Surgery Center and moving to the transition of the construction phase," said Colonel Rudolph Cachuela, 779th Medical Group Commander.
The MGMCSC will play a significant role within the NCR. The eco-friendly certified "Green" multi-story building encompasses 344,548 square feet. It will be home to an ambulatory care and surgery center, emergent care center, physical and occupational therapy, family health facilities and space for specialty clinics and other ancillary services.
"It's very personal for me to be invited to be here today. I was a student here, I interned here, and I commanded here.... so it is very special to come back today," said Lt. General Thomas Travis, Air Force Surgeon General. "My mother and sister were invited to be here by the 79th as well, because they have been cared for here for 43 years, and represent the families who have been well-cared for here in the past, and all those who will be in the future."
MGMCSC has a 45-bed Aeromedical Staging Facility (ASF) that serves as the aeromedical evacuation hub for the East Coast, receiving wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. The ASF is the first checkpoint on American soil for the nation's returning wounded warriors.
"In addition to their significant clinical and outpatient surgery contributions, 79th MDW medics are front and center as they welcome home our wounded warriors through the Aeromedical Staging Facility, almost 500 missions last year. The 79th also keeps two deployable hospitals and staff current and ready to go when needed in support of Northern Command (responsible for contingencies of all types in our nation) and also has a Global Response Force mission. This Wing is important to the nation," said Travis.
The 79th Medical Wing is a mission partner on Joint Base Andrews with two subordinate units: the 779th Medical Group located on Joint Base Andrews, and the 579th Medical Group located on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. The 79th Medical Wing oversees care at worksites across the NCR with Air Force medics working at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Fort Meade and the Pentagon.
The project is expected to be completed by the first quarter FY17. The latest news and updates can be found on the 79th Medical Wing's website located at www.79MDW.af.mil and the 779th Medical Group Facebook page.
More than 1200 Airmen, Air Force civilians, Public Health Service employees, Soldiers, Marines and Sailors provide health service support to Joint Base Andrews, primary healthcare to 30,000 enrolled beneficiaries, and specialty healthcare to over 550,000 Department of Defense beneficiaries in the NCR.
Our job is to ensure the medical readiness of our service members, and to provide a ready medical force able to deliver the best medical services anywhere in the world under any conditions to all of our beneficiaries.