Medics enter long-term partnership

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott
  • Air Force Print News
FRENCH VILLAGE, Iraq --  Helping get a medical clinic off the ground in this war-torn country is one thing, but three medics from the 447th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron are taking their relationship with this village to an unexpected level.

Capt. (Dr.) Jeff Skinner, Senior Master Sgt. Tommie Tracey and Senior Airman Matt Read are determined to have a hand in the health care of “their” village for years to come.

“We’re trying to make this a not-for-profit clinic so when the military leaves the clinic will have some sustainability,” said Tracey, who, along with Read, is deployed from the Indiana Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing.

The team collected donations for the clinic including 5,000 bottles of children’s vitamins and a play set for the waiting room. A dental chair is expected to arrive soon, according to Tracey.

The airmen cared for patients following the grand opening of the three-room clinic Oct. 18. Looters had destroyed the facility earlier this year. Army civil affairs officials and a local contractor rebuilt the clinic, which now features a pharmacy, one medical and one dental treatment room.

The walls may be up, and patients are being treated, but the clinic is neither fully staffed nor equipped. Skinner, a flight surgeon from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va., will work alongside Iraqi doctors. The enlisted medical technicians will assume nursing roles. They plan to practice in the clinic three or four days per week.

“I’m going to be sad to leave because we won’t be able to see how this clinic grows,” Read said.