Womack beats fiscal year budget expectations during transition

Womack Army Medical Center
Story by Twana Atkinson

Date: 10.01.2019
Posted: 10.17.2019 10:39
News ID: 347984
Womack beats fiscal year budget expectations during transition

Womack Army Medical Center closed out the fiscal year by surpassing financial goals while leading in the transition into a large market level treatment facility.
Each year, government agencies are required to manage an annual budget to maintain functional operations throughout the year.
Womack manage to close out this fiscal year spending more than $400 million in support of the Direct Healthcare Program and bringing back more than $4.8 million back to the facility.
As the budget team executed this year’s budget, the hospital began a transition from a military medicine command to a civilian market, giving the medical center a greater area of responsibility.
While getting after that higher fruit means the military will have to work harder to ensure funding is in the right place — and that means making tougher decisions.
“I think as we transition from [research, development, testing and evaluation] to procurement, there are unrealized bills out there that we are going to have to figure out how to resource,” Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army G-8 said during an earlier interview.
“We are increasing our capabilities and responsibilities by providing new equipment, better facilities, new relationships and maintain quality healthcare for our servicemembers,” said Erika Chabalka, the director of business operations.
This allows all services within WAMC’s region to receive quality healthcare within the military treatment facilities managed by Defense Health Agency.
In FY20, the Army is investing $8.6 billion in modernization efforts and, across the next five years, investing a total of $57 billion, a 137 percent increase from the previous year’s five-year plan, according Pasquarette.
“Collectively execution, throughout the fiscal year as well as year-end close, was enabled because of the cooperation between key stakeholders across the organization to include but not limited to contract officer's representatives, logistics, contracting, and countless others,” said Chabalka.
“Womack Army Medical Center is the sole Army MTF that navigated the Defense Health Agency transition,” said Col. John Melton, the hospital commander.
By 2020 Womack will be slated as the headquarters of Central Carolina Market. This market will consist of Womack, Pope Army Airfield and the Seymour Johnson medical treatment facility.

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