Feedback Fridays

Feedback Fridays is a weekly forum that aims to connect the 502d Air Base Wing with members of the Joint Base San Antonio community. Questions are collected during commander’s calls, town hall meetings and throughout the week.

If you have a question or concern, please send an email to RandolphPublicAffairs@us.af.mil using the subject line “Feedback Fridays.” Questions will be further researched and published as information becomes available.

Installation & Facilities

Q. An email was sent out regarding the Main Gate closure at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph starting on Feb. 26 for construction. Are more speed bumps with spikes being added? If spikes will be installed in the inbound lanes, please give us warning as the spikes are hard to see in the dark and the jolt can be intense.

Is there any chance of improving the lighting from the West Gate to the road alongside the east side of the Air Force Personnel Center (between AFPC and what used to be the Burger Bar)?

Also, has the base considered using luminous paint along the curbs, or reflectors between the lanes on Harmon Drive? During the gate closure would seem the perfect time for these additions.

A. Thank you for your questions and recommendations. Regarding the upcoming project, this is to repair the existing anti-vehicle barriers and is not to install tiger teeth or speed bumps. We are planning to award a project later this year to install tiger teeth speed bumps at the Randolph South Gate along with repairing the roadway.

All tiger teeth/speed bump/bollard projects will include proper signage as designed by traffic engineers associated with the project to ensure driver awareness. Additionally, the posted speed limit at all gates is 10 MPH which should help limit jolts to drivers.

Regarding lighting, our Civil Engineering team is aware of the challenges in the area you mentioned and is looking into potential solutions and advocacy for funds to improve safety in that area. In terms of luminous paint and reflectors, this is generally found to be difficult and costly to maintain as an additional requirement; however, we will bring this suggestion to the next JBSA-Randolph Traffic Safety Working Group for consideration. Thank you again for your feedback!

Q. Are there any plans to add another parking lot on the east side of the main BX? When I go to the BX Pharmacy to get my medication, it is hard to find a parking space near the pharmacy, especially handicap spots. I think most people would agree to have another closer parking lot with more handicap spaces.

A. Thank you for your suggestion. The number of required handicap parking spaces around a facility are dictated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, and is monitored and managed on JBSA by our Civil Engineers.

Our team did some research and found that the BX and Pharmacy parking lot has a total of 928 parking spaces, which per ADA requires 19 handicap parking spots. There are presently 40 handicap parking spaces in this lot. We have similar parking challenges across JBSA regarding handicap parking, and through years of experimentation and analysis CE has determined that the issue lies not in the number of handicap spaces, but rather, how the reserved spots are being used.

Texas law allows disabled veterans with DV marked license plates to park in handicapped spots regardless of mobility limitations. We encourage DVs who do not have mobility limitations to consider using non-reserved parking, particularly when there are a limited number of open handicap spaces remaining; however, they are not required by law to leave the spaces open.

It is worth noting that the local community has experienced similar challenges with this issue, but there hasn’t been a solution developed to resolve it. We will continue to assess the situation and consider alternatives, however, at this time the lot is assessed to have legally adequate reserved parking.

Q. I became aware of a technology that has been very successful in combating not only mold issues, but other microbial populations on surfaces.

This technology is not new and perhaps you’ve already heard of it, but it has already been successfully used at Fort Hood and Maxwell Air Force Base. The technology is called Continuous Infectious Microbial Reduction, or CIMR Tech, and it is a high-tech air purification system. It uses hydrogen peroxide gas that sanitizes air ducts, and then the air and exposed surfaces in buildings.

Not only does the mold issue have a health impact on our service members and their families, it has a significant economic impact as well. Service members are missing duty days due to illnesses of themselves or their family members which sometimes our medical providers are uncertain as to origin or treatment.

In addition, several families are displaced from their primary residence during mold remediation which must be costly. Lastly, there may be significant legal issues stemming from the “mold” concerns.

A. Thank you very much for sharing your concerns and offering solutions as we address the issue of mold in our facilities. If you have a specific company in mind that uses the CIMR technology and is interested in helping our Wing, please encourage them to reach out to our contracting team, 502d Contracting Squadron, for information of how to become an eligible contractor for award of a government contract.

The 502d Contracting Squadron commander can be reached at 210-671-1700. Thanks again for your interest in assisting the 502d Air Base Wing.

Miscellaneous

Q. How do you prioritize mission partner needs to include 502d ABW needs?

A. Great question! As the 502d ABW Commander, I wear two hats -- I serve as 502d Air Base Wing Commander and as the JBSA Joint Base Commander (Installation Commander).

As a Joint Base, we utilize the Joint Management Oversight Structure, or JMOS. This structure is used to ensure mission partners and 502d ABW priorities are shared and understood and any joint base issues are resolved at the lowest level possible at the Joint Base Partnership Council.

Issues that cannot be resolved by the Joint Base Partnership Council are elevated through the JMOS to ensure a joint perspective is maintained on all issues. In addition, our Civil Engineering Team is dedicated to responding to work orders, addressing facility concerns, and facilitating facility council meetings in order to meet the needs of our mission partners.

For major infrastructure investments, the 502d ABW employs a joint facility board process to prioritize requirements which also heavily factors in current facility conditions as well as mission dependency, while also balancing mission commander priorities and quality of life as resourcing allows.

The wing also strives to leverage other funding sources to target resourcing for related projects, though ultimately there are always more requirements than there are funds to execute. Likewise, our Force Support Team provides a wide variety of support to our mission partners and their families. These events are open to all with a DoD ID card and access to the installation. This helps improve the morale and welfare of our JBSA team.

While our wing is committee to supporting our mission partners, I encourage our leadership to continue to foster an environment of connectedness and family within our wing to ensure that we are also taking care of our people.

Whether it’s taking your shops out to lunch or decorating the office for holidays and events, I am always a fan of people getting together and really connecting with each other. It is this connectedness and family spirit that I hope our Wing and JBSA community feels when they come onto the installation and interact with our personnel.

Our personnel, our customers, and our mission partners are and always will be a top priority. Thank you again for such a tough, but great question!

Q. I have a few comments/concerns regarding the JBSA pharmacies.

1. At the BX pharmacy there are “number being served” monitors located over all service windows, yet they have not worked for a whlie. When I asked why, I was told they were handled by a contractor and just never got fixed. Shouldn’t something be done about that?

2. My last trip to pick up a refill had an estimated wait time of two to three hours, based on how long each pick-up was being processed. I would guess there were more than 100 people there with about 90-95 percent there to pick up refills. There were two windows open for new scripts (moving very fast with a number called for service about every 60-90 seconds), and two windows open for pick up of scripts that were already turned in. Those windows had 5-7 in line most of the time and moving fast. The refill pick-up window had one or two personnel servicing that window and was running very slow. When this occurs, why can’t the staff move temporarily to work the refill pick-up window?

3. The number of people waiting for refill pick-ups causes a safety hazard. Many people stand around, blocking aisles to the exits. During my visit, my number was 89 away from being called. My choice was to leave or stand and wait. There has to be a better system created if the lines are going to be long for refills.

A. Thank you for your feedback! Please allow me to answer each of your concerns in order below.

1. I agree, working monitors would greatly improve our processes and communication. Our pharmacy staff are aware and share your concerns. There are many factors that come into play when fixing these monitors, so we thank you for your patience as we continue working towards a solution.

2. Good news! On Jan. 12, a new, automated storage system was installed for refill prescription storage. With this new system, our volunteers and staff had to learn not only how to work the new equipment, but also had to adapt to a vastly different daily operation. As one could expect, the learning process took a few weeks to pick up. During our equipment install and training period, the pharmacy staff posted signs throughout the waiting area explaining our delays and staff regularly made verbal announcements reiterating that new processes were underway. Thankfully, preliminary results from the equipment install and adapted process have shown decreased refill pick-up wait times throughout the duty day. Please bear with us as we continue to learn this new process and work towards increasing efficiencies in our pharmacies!

3. I appreciate your concern for the safety and well-being of our personnel. Speaking of our personnel, our Randolph Pharmacy services both JBSA personnel and Military City, USA, community beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the pharmacy is also currently understaffed and the BX Pharmacy at JBSA-Randolph is the highest volume refill pick-up site in the JBSA market. Knowing this, we are looking into alternative options to meet the new increase in demand and will continue to strive to find safer and more efficient processes.

Q. Recently, I picked up a prescription for my spouse from the JBSA-Lackland Satellite Pharmacy. When my number was called, and I reached the window I said I was picking up a medication called in for my spouse the previous week. I have picked up his prescription for the past four Years.

The AD Technician looked shocked, said I needed some kind of permission, and asked if I had a copy of my spouse’s ID Card. I said that a release had been signed, that I had been picking up the prescription for the past 4 years and never had a problem. He said “the rules have changed” and that I needed a copy of the ID. He asked if my spouse could text it. I called my spouse, was incredibly lucky that he was able to send me a picture of his ID.

Why is this “new rule” not publicized appropriately? Why is this not part of the messages you hear on the prescription refill line? Why is this new rule not included on a piece of paper in the prescription package for pickup? I was there less than 60 days ago and didn’t have a problem.

A. I sincerely apologize for your experience at the Satellite Pharmacy. The rule that the technician relayed is not a new rule. Pharmacy technicians are instructed to never dispense ones medications to any another individual.

The only way an individual can pick-up prescriptions for someone else is to have that person’s permission, in writing, with a copy of ID. The pharmacy should always ask to see if the individual has given permission to pick-up their individual’s medication and a copy of that individuals ID.

To help fix this problem in the future, our team will conduct remedial training to our staff to ensure all staff members are educated on the proper procedures. The Satellite pharmacy does have signs posted by their windows advertising this information.

If you have any further questions or concerns, the 59th Medical Wing Patient Advocate Office can be reached at 210-292-6688 and 210-292-7827. Patient Advocates are also located in each clinic and should be consulted as a first resource. A Patient Advocate clinic contact list can be found at: https://www.59mdw.af.mil/Patient-Relations/.