DoD to restructure 50 hospitals, clinics to improve readiness

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) -- The Department of Defense announced, Feb. 19, plans to restructure 50 military hospitals and clinics to better support wartime readiness of military personnel and to improve clinical training for medical forces who deploy in support of combat operations around the world.

Military readiness includes making sure medical treatment facilities are operated to ensure service members are medically ready to train and deploy," said Tom McCaffery, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. "It also means MTFs are effectively utilized as platforms that enable our military medical personnel to acquire and maintain the clinical skills and experience that prepares them for deployment in support of combat operations around the world.”

The restructuring effort focused on strengthening the prime responsibility of military medical facilities for training medical personnel and “for keeping combat forces healthy and ready to deploy according to readiness and mission requirements – all while ensuring the MHS provides our beneficiaries with access to quality health care,” McCaffery added.

These plans were described and explained in a report sent to Congress, Feb. 19, titled "Restructuring and Realignment of Military Medical Treatment Facilities." This report was required by law under Section 703(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, which directed the DoD to analyze its hospital and clinic footprint and submit a plan to Congressional defense committees.

Of the 343 facilities in the United States initially screened for this report, 77 were selected for additional assessment, with 21 identified for no changes.

Of the 50 facilities ultimately designated for restructuring, 37 outpatient clinics now open to all beneficiaries will eventually see primarily only active-duty personnel. Active-duty family members, retirees and their families who currently receive care at those facilities will transition over time to TRICARE's civilian provider network. The report states that seven of these clinics may continue to enroll active-duty family members on a space-available basis.

In addition, many active-duty-only clinics will continue to provide occupational health services to installation civilian employees related to their employment.

The report acknowledges that transitioning patients from MTFs to the TRICARE network will take time – in some cases several years – and if local TRICARE networks cannot provide access to quality care, DoD will revise implementation plans. "Markets are expected to transition MTF eligibles to the network at different rates and, in certain markets, the transition could take several years," the report states. Detailed implementation plans will be developed through coordination with MTFs, the Defense Health Agency, the military departments and the TRICARE Health Plan.

TRICARE is the health care program for the U.S. armed services. The two most popular plans available to most eligible beneficiaries under 65, TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Select, include more than 6.7 million enrolled patients. Other plans are targeted for specific beneficiary groups, such as Reservists and those eligible for Medicare.

During his keynote address at the December 2019 annual meeting of the Society of Federal Health Professionals, known as AMSUS, McCaffery offered a broad overview of intentions for changing the scope of operations at certain MTFs in what is known within the MHS as the Direct Care System.

"In optimizing the operation of the Direct Care System to most effectively support the MHS readiness mission, we need to identify those areas where we could expand capacity at MTFs that offer potential for sustaining the skills and knowledge of our medical force," McCaffery said during his AMSUS speech. "But, we also must examine those areas where facilities do not offer now, and likely will not be able to offer in the future – a platform for maximizing capabilities to support medical readiness. In those situations, we need to be open to right-sizing MTF services and capabilities so as to ensure that we are using finite resources most efficiently ... while not compromising our ability to meet mission."

The final report delivered to Congress contains a summary of all the changes, a description of how each change was made and supporting data.

The affected Air Force facilities are:

- Joint Base Langley-Eustis Air Force Base, 633rd Medical Group Inpatient to Ambulatory Surgical Center

- MacDill AFB, 6th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Sabal Park Clinic, 6th MDG, Closed

- Dyess AFB, 7th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Robins AFB, 78th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Barksdale AFB, 2nd MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Dover AFB, 436th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Goodfellow AFB, 17th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Hanscom AFB, 66th Medical Squadron Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Maxwell AFB, 42nd MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, 87th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

- Patrick AFB, 45th MDG Outpatient facility to Active-Duty, Occupational Health Only Clinic

For a complete list of military hospital and clinic changes listed in the report, go to http://www.health.mil/MTFrestructuring.