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JBSA News
NEWS | May 16, 2017

BAMC welcomes external input to continue its surgical care

By Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs

As a high reliability organization focused on quality and safety, Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston is continually searching for ways to improve the medical services provided to those entrusted to our care.

 

Last week, BAMC hosted a team of experts from U.S. Army Medical Command to identify further improvements in the sterilization workflow process.

 

This is the second team BAMC has invited over the past month to solicit feedback from outside the organization on all aspects of surgical care.

 

BAMC leaders are taking a number of steps to ensure high quality surgical care for our patients. An initial step taken in mid-April was to temporarily reduce the number of elective surgical procedures while leaders actively evaluated staffing, equipment, space and processes to ensure the facility is ready to meet the surgical demand.

 

The staff assistance visit team includes experts in clinical engineering, sterile processing, infection prevention and control, and quality, as well as a master’s prepared expert in human systems integration and human factors, who examines how people and technology are interfacing.

 

“The staff assistance visit team brings expertise not present within our hospital such as a human factors engineer,” explained Air Force Col. Kimberly Pietszak, deputy to the commander for quality and safety. “It also provides us an opportunity to have an outside evaluation of our processes to ensure an unbiased review.”

 

The team will provide feedback within a few days of the visit. “We will take their suggestions and track those items within our governance structure until they have been completed,” said Army Col. Douglas Soderdahl, deputy commander for surgical services. “Leaders are engaged and will ensure the processes are improved and sustained.”

 

Inviting experts in is just one way BAMC is demonstrating its commitment to being an HRO. “One of the HRO principles is deference to expertise,” Pietszak said. “This allows us to learn from true experts in the field.”

 

A backlog in sterilized surgical instrument sets was a key indicator that BAMC needed to temporarily reduce the number of surgical procedures. Surgeons need multiple sets on hand to ensure they are equipped for everything from routine surgeries to complex trauma cases that may require a vast number of surgical instruments. BAMC is in the process of bringing on more personnel to support the sterilization process and will gradually increase surgical procedures in the coming weeks.

 

Increased surgeries hone medical skills needed on the battlefield, which is a key component to medical readiness, noted Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Johnson, BAMC commanding general.

 

“We are working diligently to get back to full operating capacity so we can continue to care for our patients and generate readiness,” Johnson said. “Our unwavering commitment is to our patients’ care. That drives everything we do.”

 

Patients whose surgeries have been delayed and have questions should contact their surgeon, surgical clinic or primary care manager.

 

(Source: Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs)