Medical Support Squadron vital to success of mission

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Stephen Delgado
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  As of 2007, Flagstaff had a population of 59,000 people. The 56th Medical Support Squadron provides service to more than twice the population of Flagstaff. 

"The 56th MDSS Pharmacy Flight serves nearly 130,000 people during the peak winter season," Lt. Col. Ronald Johnson, 56th MDSS commander, said. "We serve not only active-duty and their dependents, but also retirees and their dependents from all of the services. Our pharmacy serves the third largest military population of any base in the Air Force behind the National Capitol Region and San Antonio." 

However, the pharmacy flight is only one part of MDSS, whose umbrella covers the majority of the administrative and ancillary services provided by the 56th Medical Group. 

MDSS is composed of about 192 personnel, which includes active-duty, federal civilians and contractors, spread across seven flights: resource management, TRICARE operations and patient administration, medical information systems, medical readiness, and medical logistics comprise the administrative flights while the pharmacy and clinical laboratory comprise the ancillary flights which provide direct patient support. The squadron is one of four that make up the 56th Medical Group. The other three squadrons are dental, aerospace medicine and medical operations. 

These seven flights provide the behind the scenes support for military healthcare in the entire Phoenix area. This includes nearly 27,000 people enrolled for care at the clinic on base. Most of these people are active-duty or dependents, Colonel Johnson said. 

"We have a $35 million yearly budget for the MDG and also have our hand in more than $50 million that is spent on care provided in the local area under TRICARE for healthcare services that we cannot provide," he said. "Our referral management center tracks all care received and passes the information to the doctors here to ensure there is continuity of care. That is not an easy task considering there are more than 5,500 healthcare practitioners who have an agreement with TRICARE in the local network." 

There have been profound changes in the medical group since 2005. The biggest change was going from a hospital to a clinic in 2004. 

"No matter what changes come our way, we will find a way to successfully make them work," Colonel Johnson said. "Our squadron is here to provide the best possible support to the MDG, the wing and the expeditionary mission of the Air Force."