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“This clinic is going to have about 105 workers”. The third floor clinic has 85 new personnel. These incoming personnel areto support the growth of BRAC and were not accounted for in the BRAC 2005. What I am trying to say? We need some more quality/affordable homes to meet our growing needs. Oh yea, just another reason, retired military flock to this area.

Eglin debuts new dental clinic
Mona Moore
2011-06-27
EGLIN AFB — In preparation for the population boom expected from new BRAC missions, the base has built a 31,000-square-foot dental clinic. The two-story clinic near Eglin Air Force Base’s hospital will replace the 21,000-square-foot space currently used for dental services on the third floor of the hospital’s clinic tower. The lower floor of the new clinic, which opened June 7, will be used for general dentistry, exams and sick calls. The second floor will be used for residency training and dental specialty care. The addition will allow the clinic to expand the number of patients it sees each day. It has 52 treatment rooms, 11 more than the existing space. Col. Erik Meyers, advanced education general dentistry director and acting commander of the dental squadron, said the changes will come just in time for the BRAC missions. “The growth here at Eglin is borderline explosive in terms of the services the hospital is preparing to offer,” Meyers said. The new clinic is part of Eglin’s effort to recapture some of the medical care in the tri-county area, especially in Crestview where many Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) families are expected to relocate. “We’re trying to save money ... across the DOD like crazy, and this is just one way that we’ll be able to do that,” Meyers said. “If we’re able to keep the people in our network and treat patients in our own backyard by our providers, we’re able to render more cost-efficient health care, which is the bottom line.” The relocation of the dental clinic will allow other medical services to use the abandoned third-floor space in the hospital. The renovation of the clinic is part of a larger expansion project that will begin when funding is in place. Eglin will be opening new specialty programs, although specifics of the expansion are not yet available, Meyers said. The clinic currently provides about $9 million in dental care annually. Meyers expects it to provide nearly $12 million in dental care by the time all the new active-duty personnel arrive and the clinic is fully up and running. The additional active-duty members also will drive the need for more manpower, Meyers said. The clinic is going to have about 105 workers, including 22 dentists and eight advanced education and general dentistry residents. The third floor clinic had 85 people. Eglin’s dental program is one of 13 advanced education programs in general dental residencies in the Air Force. The new clinic will be the most state-of-the-art facility in the Air Force dental service, and possibly within the Department of Defense, because it’s the newest. “Since the facility is so modernized, it’s going to allow us to train our eight residents in the newest, most up-to-date, most current technologically-advanced setting,” Meyers said. Dentists will be able to X-ray patients in every exam room. The addition also includes new dental chairs with built-in computer monitors. “(That) is going to allow the dentist to use the video screen as a teaching tool and as a patient education tool, and also be able to view X-rays right over the patient,” Meyers said. The dental program will operate the same as it always has. “As far as the type of care we deliver, we’re already knocking it out of the park,” Meyers said. “We can’t do any better. We’re just going to be delivering it in a different setting.”