Here you go Cheryl

Eglin Hospital

So yesterday, Cheryl asked a good question on the blog. I thought this might be worth actually a blog to explain. So let me try. Here was the question/s:

Hi Wendi. Just a question. How big is the hospital that JB and Phillip work at, what size of an area does it service?? I'm assuming it serves all people in the area, and is just a teaching hospital for the Army/Navy?? How many people actually live at Eglin? Are they just there for training, or are some of them actually overseas? Sorry,this has turned into many questions!! I'm trying to understand your "little community" better. Cheryl

Actually, Eglin AFB is the largest Air Force base in the free world.It is 724 square miles and occupies much of the Northwest Florida panhandle.

I've actually had the question of how many people live on the base a number of times, and I have yet to find anyone who knows the answer to this question. I heard someone say 10,000 people. Now John is saying 10,000 work here, not live here. So I have no idea. Both of those sound pretty accurate to me, but I really can't confirm either one. Anyone else know this answer?

There are many people that are stationed at Eglin Air Force Base for many years. Some stay 1, 2, 3 or 4 years (the more common amounts,) but some people may spend their entire career here. It just depends on what they do and if they are needed somewhere else. For instance, there was one physician here that just left for another base. I think he was here for 11 years. He was here until the military called him to help start a new program at a new base.

Traditionally, people are "eligible" to be deployed every 24 months for a 4-6 month period. That doesn't mean you will be deployed. It also doesn't mean you will be deployed to a war-time situation. It may mean you are deployed to a natural disaster or peace-keeping mission. John currently cannot be deployed. He is in an "active duty non-deployable" position.

There are two "groups" of people that live on base (and two "groups" in the military in general.) The first group are "enlisted." The second group are "officers." An officer must have a bachelor's degree, so education, at least initially, is the main thing that separates these groups. This isn't saying that officers are better. (My brother Matt is enlisted in the Army, and he believes, with all his heart, that the real soldiers are enlisted. Well, John isn't a solider anyway, he's an airman. But you get my point.)

The groups are kept very separate on base, and in fact, you really aren't supposed to "fraternize" with members of the other group. Our housing is completely separate. The reason is that, ultimately, officers make the decisions regarding enlisted men and women and their lives, and therefore you don't want to have "favorites." John, of course, would never make decisions regarding who went to which battle, but this rule still stands true. Unless we had family members who were enlisted, we are not really supposed to have them over to our house or "hang out" with enlisted.

Officer housing is considerably better than enlisted housing. I don't know a lot of the rules about enlisted housing, but I do know that in order to live on base, an officer must be married. This is only true on our base. Every base is different depending on what is available. There is no housing for single officers on Eglin AFB. This is why most people have children in the area I live in. There aren't a lot of marrieds without kids.

As a Captain, JB actually outranks 90% of the people on the base. I have never seen JB initiate a salute. I'm sure it happens, but I have never seen it. In case people didn't know, the lower ranking individual always initiates a salute. In addition, you only salute outside -- never inside. I never knew this, but it makes sense. Otherwise people would be saluting all day long. Also, you always remove your hat when going indoors. You only wear your hats outside. Oh, and I guess they are called "covers." This sounds dumb, and I just learned it this very second when JB told me as I am double-checking my facts with him.

As for the hospital, there is only one residency group that works in this hospital and that is family medicine. (There is also a dentistry residency program. Although, only active military go to those dentists. Everyone else goes off-base.) That means it is only a teaching hospital for this one area. This is very different from somewhere like Mayo where there is a residency program in nearly, if not all fields. The advantage to being the "sole residents" is that John doesn't compete with others for "tasks." In other words, when he is doing a surgery rotation, he isn't competing with surgery residents to participate. He is one of only ten interns on base.

That actually would lead us into a whole 'nother discussion. I'll say it quickly. An intern is a first year resident. They are all residents, but first years are called interns. A fellow is someone who is doing training after residency is done.

Okay, moving on.

If you are seeing a family doctor, you have two choices. You can go to choice 1 or choice 2. Choice 1 is the family health side. This is mostly nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Side 2 you will also be dealing with a lot of residents. Some people don't like this. So they get a choice.

The hospital itself serves everyone on base as well as any retired military (and families) in the area. If you are a member of "Tricare" (the insurance for military), you go to the hospital nearest you. As long as we are in the military, we would go to a military hospital or clinic. Apparently, Eglin Hospital provides comprehensive medical care to approximately 83,000 eligible beneficiaries in total. Apparently, this will be increasing drastically in the near future.

Some other hospital facts I have collected:

• There are six beds on the intensive care unit.
• There are 56 beds in the entire hospital.
• The hospital staff is called the "96th Medical Group." I never know what these numbers mean, but something tells me Philip would. He knows everything! (That guy is so smart!)
• This is one of the larger outpatient workloads in the Air Force.
• John has his own desk in the residency room. He has pictures of me there!

Okay, so that should be a pretty adequate summary. With all this said, anyone else have anymore questions they can think of. John's not too busy so I'll get him to help me answer.