Assistant surgeon general visits Offutt medics

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. – Maj. Gen. Kimberly Siniscalchi, assistant surgeon general of the Air Force, addresses issues during a nurse’s call March 20 at the Ehrling Bergquist Clinic. At the nurse’s call, the general answered a variety of questions and provided insight to current medical training requirements. She also toured the medical facility and talked to various medical providers. U.S. Air Force photo by Charles Haymond

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Assistant surgeon general visits Offutt medics

Published April 6, 2009
By Ryan Hansen
55 th Wing Public Affairs

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- The assistant Air Force surgeon general for nursing services and medical force development visited here recently to meet with members of the 55th Medical Group's Ehrling Bergquist Clinic.

During her visit Maj. Gen. Kimberly A. Siniscalchi recognized 11 top-performers with coins, talked about changes and challenges in the medical career field, took part in a question and answer session and thanked those in attendance for their service.

"I want to personally thank you for what it is you do each and every day," General Siniscalchi said. "It's all about teamwork and working together and I can tell you we have a very strong, robust nursing force."

General Siniscalchi's visit to Offutt was almost like a homecoming of sorts. The two-star general earned her Master of Science degree in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and was stationed here twice.

"I actually knew her when she was stationed here as a major," said Eileen Stegmaier, a registered nurse with the 55th Medical Operations Squadron. "She was very knowledgeable back then and I know everyone here appreciates the fact that she's back visiting us."

Earlier in the week the general served on a panel before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and shared some of those details with the group.

"On Capitol Hill the big issues and concerns are our wounded warriors," she said. "What are we doing across all services to take care of our deployed members - pre-deployment, during deployment, post- deployment - and their families?"

General Siniscalchi said the committee is also very interested in learning what new research initiatives are being started for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and what they've learned from recent research.

Sexual assault was another issue brought up during the committee meeting, according to the general. They asked the panel members if the services were seeing an increase in cases.

"The answer was, we just don't know if there has been an uptick or if our folks have done such a phenomenal job out there educating ... that people are feeling more comfortable and confident and coming forward," General Siniscalchi said.

The general also said the career field will see more joint ventures with the other services, as well as some consolidations because of previous Base Realignment and Closure decisions.

One big initiative will be in San Antonio where Wilford Hall Medical Center and Brooke Army Medical Center will come together to form the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

The general said the new facility will be a blending of two organizations, co-located and consolidated, but will continue to have two separate services governing it.

Another initiative involves the 82nd Training Group at Sheppard AFB, Texas. This unit is currently in charge of enlisted medical education and training and will soon join the other services at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

"Our push for that is to also have a shared government model so we can still have three separate services and three surgeons (voicing) how we educate and train our next generation of Airmen," General Siniscalchi said.

The assistant Air Force surgeon general also pointed out two other BRAC and joint efforts going on in the D.C. area. The first was the scale back of the Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews AFB, Md., with most of its services being moving to Fort Belvoir, Va., while the second item dealt with service surgeons consolidating and creating a new headquarters.

"Fort Belvoir is going to be the first in (Department of Defense) medicine where we will have a joint manning document," General Siniscalchi said. "Civilians will not be aligned under a service, but there will be a DOD civilian personnel structure set up."

The general wrapped up her visit with a question and answer session where she was asked about deployment training, promotion opportunities and discrepancy pay for civilians.

And while the face-to-face meeting with members of the medical facility was only about an hour in length, General Siniscalchi passed along a lot of information and no doubt left an impression on personnel in attendance.

"Her visit is really an inspiration," said Senior Airman Kimberli Molina, a surgical technician with the 55th MDOS. "To see her, as a nurse, become a two-star general, is really something to aspire towards."