JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va., Feb. 13, 2019 —
To enhance partnerships and ease of communication with command teams regarding the health and medical readiness of team members, the Langley Hospital has opened the Operational Medicine Clinic at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Jan. 14, 2019.
“The OMC is looking forward to providing efficient and streamlined clinical care to our non-flyer uniformed members,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Song Moon, 633rd Medical Group physician assistant. “Our goals are to decrease wait times for appointments, maximize return to duty rates, minimize profiles by educating units and improving provider continuity, increase understanding of occupational stressors, and reduce injury rates.”
Active duty members on flying status will continue to be seen in the Flight Medicine Clinic and will not be affected by the OMC.
Dependents and retirees will still see their providers at Internal Medicine and the Family Health clinic.
With the assigning of squadrons to primary care managers, everyone within any given squadron will share the same PCM. Working with the entirety of the squadron will also help PCMs gain increased understanding of occupational stressors within it.
“Some career fields have unique components to their jobs and duty requirements,” Moon said. “Those components can result in certain healthcare issues.”
Moon explains the plan is to make site visits, giving PCMs the opportunity to know their patients better and determine the concerns within the career field. This will give PCMs a better idea on how to address each squadron clinically.
The OMC will provide Sick Call care for active duty members enrolled with an OMC provider as well as reservists or guard members on active orders and assigned to Langley AFB.
For Sick Call check-in times, sign-in daily from 7 to 7:30 a.m., and from 12:30 to 1 p.m. These time slots are for illnesses or injuries of less than two weeks duration or PT test failures if there are less than three failures. Members should present themselves to Sick Call in uniform (PT uniform is acceptable).
Sick Call is not for medication refills, follow-ups for ongoing or chronic conditions, profile renewal requests or active duty members assigned to another medical treatment facility in the Tidewater Area.
Access to routine and future appointments is still available via Tricare Online (www.tricareonline.com) and telephone consults can be made via secure messaging (https://app.tolsecuremessaging.com) or by calling the Hampton Roads Appointment Center.
According to 633rd MDG leadership, other Air Force clinics have seen great progress in the reduction of medical non-deployable rates after implementing the OMC.
“We are excited to begin this initiative to better partner with our patients and JBLE units,” said 633rd MDG leadership. “This is an investment in readiness, and we thank you for allowing us to care for your Airmen and for your support.”
The OMC is located in U.S Air Force Hospital Langley’s West Wing, on the first floor, near the Emergency Department. To contact the front desk, call 757-225-6703.