88th Medical Support Squadron targets ‘trusted support, innovative solutions’

Published Aug. 10, 2023
By Vince Little
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Airman 1st Class Lafayette Ragsdale, an 88th Medical Support Squadron biomedical equipment technician, checks an inventory update in the emergency room at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron helps “dominate the dirty work” for the 88th Medical Group, keeping daily operations on course while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The 88th Medical Support Squadron stands as Wright-Patterson Medical Center’s logistical, administrative and fiscal backbone.

With its mission to deliver “trusted support (and) innovative solutions” for medical providers, forge collaborative partnerships and build sustainable processes, 88 MDSS plays a key role in “dominating the dirty work” for the 88th Air Base Wing and 88th Medical Group.

“Patient care is always our focal point. Our responsibility is to ready our medical care professionals with all the tools needed to provide excellent health care for our patient population,” said Master Sgt. Joshua Slaton, the squadron’s Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight chief.

“We are the foundation of Wright-Patterson Medical Center, and in ironic fashion, we are located in the basement of the facility. As such, we stay out of the spotlight – for good reason. By working behind the scenes, we’re able to provide our health care professionals with everything they need with little to no interruption in care. We do whatever it takes to provide the highest echelon of care to our warfighters and their families.”

As 88 MDG’s administrative arm, 88 MDSS keeps daily operations on course while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital and focusing on how to improve the overall patient experience.

Comprised of nearly 370 personnel, the squadron directs five flights: Medical Information Systems, Medical Logistics and Facilities, Resource Management Office and Commander’s Support Staff, TRICARE Operations and Patient Administration, and Medical Readiness Office.

“When you talk about ‘dirty work,’ we are the ones down in the trenches ensuring that the hospital operates effectively and efficiently each day,” said Lt. Col. Damian Pardue, 88 MDSS commander. “We exist to support the clinical side… Together, we support our warfighters, their family members and the nation’s veterans.”

Transformation and modernization

In early June, 88 MDSS oversaw implementation of MHS GENESIS, the military’s new electronic health-record system, at Wright-Patterson Medical Center.

The squadron also manages execution of the hospital’s $132 million budget and $90 million TRICARE program. It maintains $36 million in war-reserve materiel, procures $118 million in services and oversees $148 million in equipment across the 944,000-square-foot hospital.

“We directly oversee the revenue cycle impacting the personnel and financial resources of the 88th Medical Group,” said Jacob Arnst, the 88 MDSS Resource Management Office’s deputy director, who’s been at Wright-Patterson Medical Center over three decades, arriving as an active-duty Airman in August 1992 before shifting to the civilian side 13 years later.

“Our staff determines funding availability to execute MDSS and MDG leadership requests supporting the delivery of health care. We identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce waste in a restrictive financial world.”

Arnst and his team routinely engage in financial, staffing and personnel management at the base hospital, he said.

In addition to providing guidance and direction for the Resource Management Office and Commander’s Support Staff Flight, they manage funding distribution for eight squadrons and 45 flights while identifying opportunities to improve the staffing posture of more than 2,000 personnel.

Everything starts with logistics

Among its various priorities, 88 MDSS directs logistics, information systems, resource utilization, readiness, patient administration and all personnel functions for 88 MDG’s 2,200 staff members, as well as operations for over 67,000 eligible beneficiaries and 36,000 enrolled beneficiaries.

The Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight is the launching pad for it all.

Staff Sgt. Vivian Thompson and Senior Airman John Jackson, both assigned to the 88th Medical Support Squadron as medical materiel technicians, move a pallet of equipment in the warehouse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron helps “dominate the dirty work” for the 88th Medical Group, keeping daily operations on course while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

“Medical Logistics has a hand in everything that happens within the military treatment facility,” said Maj. David Maley, the flight’s commander. “We buy and maintain everything from tongue depressors to MRI machines while ensuring the doors patients walk in function properly and the floors are clean.”

Slaton said the flight directly impacts the capabilities of every section, clinic and department at Wright-Patterson Medical Center. Its responsibilities include managing the “cradle-to-grave” process for all medical supplies, maintaining safe and operational capability of equipment, and ensuring the facility’s overall structural integrity, he added.

Bill Young, an 88th Medical Support Squadron materials handler, prepares equipment to be sent out from the warehouse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron’s Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight directly impacts every section, clinic and patient in the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

In addition to home-station requirements, the Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight also maintains all of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s deployable medical packages. That includes 140 war-reserve materiel cargo assemblages worth $36 million.

Senior Airman Cannon McCool is among unit personnel who can be seen hauling tools around the hospital. He’s served as a flight biomedical equipment technician the past three years.

“On a daily basis, I perform inspections, preventive maintenance, calibrations and repair medical equipment,” he said. “This helps ensure the facility has properly functioning medical equipment to provide care to service members and beneficiaries.”

The Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight is highly “multifaceted,” featuring several components that touch a vast array of patient-care operations, Maley said.

The main three are medical materiel, the Medical Equipment Repair Center and facility management, which cross a wide spectrum of operations to include supply and equipment acquisition, warehousing, contract and life-cycle management, environmental services, preventive maintenance and repair.

Maley said these unique functions add up to a “safe, clean and stocked military treatment facility,” ensuring patients receive high-quality health care at WPAFB.

“The Medical Logistics Flight helps 88 MDSS ‘dominate the dirty work’ by working behind the scenes and buying everything our doctors, nurses and technicians need to serve our patient population,” he said. “We are the box kickers and the wrench-turners that make everything work within the facility. We typically work behind the scenes in a warehouse or in the basement of the facility, but everything that touches a patient originates in this flight.”

Systems flight keeps hospital online

The Medical Information Systems Flight handles 88 MDSS “dirty work” by providing information technology equipment and support for all of Wright-Patterson Medical Center. It also works with Defense Health Agency to preserve network integrity through implementation of security protocols and procedures.

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Airman 1st Class Jason Barcelon, 88th Medical Support Squadron medical materiel technician, gathers boxes for shipment in the warehouse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron’s Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight directly impacts every section, clinic and patient in the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

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Donna Evans, 88th Medical Support Squadron medical records technician, works alongside Staff Sgt. Tahmeira Kelley (left) and Airman Pragati KC at Wright-Patterson Medical Center’s inpatient records office, June 29, 2023. The squadron helps “dominate the dirty work” for the 88th Medical Group, keeping daily operations on course while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

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Maj. Scott Suter, the 88th Medical Support Squadron’s Readiness Flight commander, explains the proper use of equipment to Senior Airman Aaliyah Decena (left), unit deployment manager, and Staff Sgt. Aysha Truett, the flight’s NCO in charge, in the warehouse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron helps “dominate the dirty work” for the 88th Medical Group, keeping daily operations on course while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

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Airman Karissa Hernandez, 88th Medical Support Squadron medical materiel technician, works the front desk checking equipment orders and supply requests at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron’s Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight directly impacts every section, clinic and patient in the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

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From left: Staff Sgt. Tori Bowers, Airman Karissa Hernandez and Airman 1st Class Hannah Chapa of the 88th Medical Support Squadron work the front desk checking equipment orders and supply requests at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron’s Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight directly impacts every section, clinic and patient in the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

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“Our technicians are in the business of providing top-notch customer support,” said Maj. Kevin Underwood, the squadron’s Medical Information Systems Flight commander. “Sometimes, you can see them working in the warehouse receiving, inventorying and deploying equipment to the military treatment facility. Other times, you’ll see them crawling under desks on hands and knees plugging in equipment for our fellow MTF members.”

He said mission dependence on technology is hardly unique in this global high-tech age. But without the flight delivering reliable hardware and network connectivity on a daily basis, the hospital simply wouldn’t operate efficiently – for patients or personnel.

“Our flight’s focal point is maintaining operations,” Underwood said. “We don’t directly interact with patients; however, when we do our jobs, we are ensuring that our providers are able to take good care of service members and beneficiaries and our leadership can run the MTF effectively.”

For its efforts, the flight was selected as Air Force Materiel Command’s Medical Information Services Team of the Year for 2022.

Staff Sgt. Aysha Truett, NCO in charge of the 88th Medical Support Squadron’s Readiness Flight, puts equipment inside a bag for an upcoming deployment while Senior Airman Aaliyah Decena, unit deployment manager, checks it off the list in the warehouse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, June 29, 2023. The squadron helps “dominate the dirty work” for the 88th Medical Group, keeping daily operations on course and preparing deployable packages while resourcing the Air Force’s second-largest hospital. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth J. Stiles)

‘Going to bat for our beneficiaries’

Away from the glare of clinics, patient waiting areas and treatment rooms, 88 MDSS medical equipment technicians such as Senior Airman Robin Claire Luna keep busy completing inventories, maintaining physical accountability, and updating any data necessary for efficient management and precise reporting of in-use equipment at the hospital.

She helps oversee 113 accounts tracking $145 million in 88 MDG medical equipment.

“I assist with procurement for all new equipment – as new replacement equipment comes in, the old one goes out,” said Luna, who’s been with the Medical Logistics and Facilities Flight at Wright-Patterson Medical Center since August 2021. “Furthermore, I purchase equipment-repair parts to ensure our biomedical equipment technicians can get medical equipment properly configured, serviceable and safe to use. ... This helps ensure that WPMC maintains a reliable and safe infrastructure, eventually enabling the provision of top-notch patient care.”

While most of the squadron’s flights are focused on supporting 88 MDG personnel, TRICARE Operations and Patient Administration, or TOPA, has a direct tie to patients and beneficiaries.

Among its responsibilities, the flight processes referrals, educates patients on TRICARE benefits and safeguards medical records.

“The focal point in TOPA is taking care of our patients,” said Lt. Col. Lisa Ashdown, flight commander. “We strive to provide the best customer service and make sure patients receive the tools they need in order to have a successful patient experience.”

Inevitably, things don’t always work seamlessly with TRICARE, she added.

That’s when TOPA’s beneficiary counselor and Referral Management Center step in to elevate claims issues to Humana Military, the program’s health insurance provider, and make sure patients do not have to pay for unnecessary bills.

“TOPA helps ‘dominate the dirty work’ at WPMC by going to bat for our beneficiaries,” Ashdown said. “Our job isn’t the most glamourous when it comes to the Medical Center, but we ensure patients can get the care they need when they need it.”