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Show TIMES HILLTOP TIMES Medical clinic organizational change generates praise October 11,2007 Newly split clinics deliver specialized focus needed for deploying airmen versus families BY MITCH SHAW Maj. Gen. Kathleen Close looks at a toy in the family waiting room during a tour of the new Airman and Family Medical Clinic at Hill Air Force Base on Oct. 5. Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau mishaw@standard.net H ILL AIR FORCE BASE — Things just got a lot easier for patients at the Hill Air Force Base medical clinic. On Friday, the 75th Medical Group opened its new Airman and Family Medicine Clinic, which Hill hopes will improve the clinic's overall efficiency and continue to meet the needs of its unique patient base. Hill's medical clinic is the first in the entire Air Force to consolidate its services into two separate entities: the Family Medicine Clinic and the Airman Clinic. "This is truly transformational," said Maj. Gen. Kathleen Close, Ogden Air Logistics Center commander. "This will not only benefit our airmen, but also our families as well." According to Lt. Col. Matthew Wonnacott, chief of Hill's medical staff, the transformation was a necessary adjustment in order to streamline the clinics operations. "Our primary role is to get our troops medically fit and able to deploy at a moment's notice," Wonnacott said. "That can be a challenge when you are seeing a variety of patients. We have our active duty population and the rest of our patients, and the processes they go through are very different." Active duty airmen will now have their own clinic, with services exclusive to them. Hill officials said that by consolidating the active-duty requirements to the MATTHEW HATFIELD StandardExaminer airmen clinic, family medicine clinic . providers will no longer have to deal with the administrative requirements for service members and be able to focus entirely on their patients. "Everyone that comes into our facilities needs health care and all of our patients are equally important, but now we can dedicate the proper care to all of them in a way that is a lot more efficient," said Lt. Col. Pennie Pavlisin, commander of the 75th Medical Operations Squadron. "Before, doctors would have to constantly change their mindset with each patient because activeduty patients' needs are so different." Wonnacott said the separation will not only allow physicians to provide better, more focused care, but will also improve clerical processes at the clinic and allow patients to have shorter visits. "One of the goals we have set is to reduce wait time by 90 percent," Wonnacott said. "We will be able to streamline everything, making it easier for patients to get in and out of the clinic and take care of all their needs." The new clinic falls in line with Air Force Smart Operations 21, an effort that calls for the Air Force to maximize value and minimize waste in its operations. Hill's clinic will serve as a prototype to other Air Force clinics across the world. "We are the first base to do this," said Wonnacott. "Other bases will be looking at what we are doing. Everyone is struggling with how to take limited resources and still make everything work and keep our priorities where they should be." Pavlisin said the transformation of the clinic took about 90 days to complete and the medical staff has already seen improvements. "It was a huge undertaking and it took a lot of work, but we had a lot of dedicated people involved," she said. "We are not quite to the point where we can say we have total success, but we can see that we are definitely moving in the right direction." ^ 1 mv> Ul Helicopter Rides Sat. from 1-4pm BySilverstate Helicopters SB I mSss^SSM Corn Maze Haunted Maze Cow Train Giant Slides0Hay Jump Hay Maze Paint Ball Shoot Pig Races Animal Swings Farm Store Pumpkin Patch Hayride Animal Alley Concessions Corn Cannon Corn Box Coal Mountain Bon Fires Magic Mondays (|fe33 d) V 0Hj)° Field of Screams Helicopter Rides ((SiGfenri 0^ OFF! TV 801-774-MAZE CORN MAZE & COURTYARD Adults $10 Kids $8 HAY RIDE Adults $8 Kids $5 ,-i**ft r •. i Mon-Thurs: 4pm - 10pm Fri: 4pm - Midnight Sot; 10am - Midnight 3187 S. 3000 W. Syracuse, Utah 84075 COMBO PASS Adults $15 Kids $10 yisis HELD OF SCREAMS Adults $15 Kids $15 1 Mon-Thurs: 4pm - 10pm I Fri: 7pm - Midnight j Field of Screams II Haunted Corn Maze Hayride or Combo Pass Expires 10/31/07 |