Joint AF-VA hospital provides world-class healthcare

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Travis Edwards
  • 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) --  In July 1994, Nellis Air Force Base's Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital became one of four Department of Defense hospitals to consolidate Air Force and Department of Veteran's Affairs medical needs under one roof.

"It's all about medicine and keeping everyone healthy and in top form," said Maj. Tom Cunningham, 99th Medical Support Squadron administration chief. "Air Force doctors are able to treat VA beneficiaries and VA doctors can treat Air Force members."

According to 99th Medical Group officials, their vision is to maximize the integrated world-class AF-VA system to provide coordinated full-service healthcare.

Through the joint venture, multiple services in the hospital such as emergency services, operating rooms and radiology are able to be staffed by both Air Force and VA medics.

"The services we are able to provide due to the integration are like nothing else available," said Major Cunningham.

However, combining staff was not as easy as it sounds.

"While we developed a hybrid-staffing model to match the share of workload, increasing operations tempo and constant deployments pulled more active-duty members away from the (hospital)," said Major Cunningham. "Las Vegas is very competitive job market, and keeping the jointly staffed areas running 24 hours a day, seven days a week is an ongoing challenge. The VA has really stepped up and filled in all the gaps."

In order to not duplicate efforts in purchasing equipment, the joint venture affords the hospital the opportunity to buy in bulk, which results in reduced costs for both departments.

"It's a cooperative effort. If the contract is up on a certain item and it is cheaper to use a VA contract, we will use a VA contract, [and vise versa]," said Dan Gerrard the hospital's VA chief administrative officer.

And those are just a few of the things joint benefits.

Another benefit is the doctors from both departments are able to stay current in their practice.

"It's a win-win situation either way you look at it," said the major. "Our Air Force doctors can stay current with the uncommon circumstances brought by VA beneficiaries, and VA doctors can stay current with the unique situations active-duty members face."

The success of this program is attributed to the great people working behind the scenes and those who treat patients every day, said Col. Carl Alley, 99th MDG commander. "As long as we keep this great relationship going between the VA and Air Force, the great service provided by these medical professionals will never stop."

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