LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Four years, $67 million, a contract and five shovels later ...
"This is a day I never thought would happen," said Col. Kory Cornum, 1st Medical Group commander. "I lost several bets because I didn't think it would happen while I was here, but I'm glad I lost those bets."
Colonel Cornum was one of about 25 people gathered outside the 1st Fighter Wing Hospital to commemorate the groundbreaking of the hospital's multi-million dollar military construction project Jan. 26.
The project, a 145,000-square-foot addition to the current hospital, will contain several critical state-of-the art facilities, including a new operating room, labor and delivery ward, intensive care unit and inpatient facilities.
Once construction is completed, Langley patients will also see an increase in the number of staff providing healthcare to the more than 75,000 patients who use the hospital every year.
"It's going to make health care on Langley a lot better," Colonel Cornum said.
With construction comes change, and although there will be several changes throughout the next 27 months, quality patient care will remain constant.
"To the public, (the transition) will be seamless," said Timothy Colburn, the hospital's director of facility services. "We have clinics that will continue to serve active duty, retirees and dependents alike. Operating room activities will continue; they may continue in alternate or modified locations, but we'll ensure there's no impact to our patient care mission, and we are in full compliance with Environment of Care and the Joint Commission Standards."
At the close of the groundbreaking, Gen. Burt Field, 1st FW commander, made one request of the Army Corps of Engineers:
"Remember, of all the things that we build, few things do we care about more when we really need them," the general said. "So when you're building this, I want you to build it as if you're going to put your little baby daughter or your 90-year-old mom inside this building for care. We'll take care of the people, and I'd just like you to take care of the facility."