REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Huntsville’s (Huntsville Center) Medical Division welcomed Health Facilities Planning Agency (HFPA) interns and Health Facility Planning and Project Officer (HFPPO) community members April 21-23 for an overview of Huntsville Center’s mission and capabilities in delivering support to medical facilities across Defense Health Agency.
The Army and Naval officers in attendance represented Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) and the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED).
During their visit, the interns received briefings from Medical Division program managers.
Josh Yost, Huntsville Medical Division Medical Outfitting and Transition (MO&T) program manager provided information regarding medical facility planning, design integration, contracting, and MO&T execution.
“This engagement strengthens joint integration between Army and Navy medical planning communities and builds early awareness, alignment, and professional development for future leaders responsible for medical facility planning and execution,” Yost said.
The attendees relished their time spent reviewing what service Huntsville Center provides to the Defense Health Agency’s facility field.
Huntsville Center’s Medical Division under its installation support directorate includes Medical Outfitting and Support, Medical Repair and Renewal and Operation and Maintenance Engineering Enhancement programs, all vital programs ensuring the DHA’s 130,000 civilian and military workforce performs services for its 9.5 million beneficiaries via 700 quality medical, dental and veterinary clinics worldwide.
Although considered interns, the attendees, like Maj. Ben Bonner, are seasoned officers who are moving into the medical facilities field.
Bonner received his commission out of Reserve Officer Training Corps with an architecture degree from Alabama A&M University. After his commission, he was selected to work in the Army logistics field.
He said a recent opportunity became available for him to move into DHA and he took it.
He said he feels his degree will be put to better use by working in the medical facility field. “I was a logistics officer and never really had a chance to use my degree in my Army career,” Bonner said.
“Medical facility planning, funding, contracting and initial outfitting are attributable to my architectural expertise.” Bonner said the visit to Huntsville Center was a learning experience and is beneficial for the work he will do planning health facilities.
“It’s good to know what the Corps of Engineers and Huntsville Center does, and how we can connect to ensure that we are serving the patient and the medical staff, so it’s definitely beneficial to see their (Huntsville Center) systems and processes so we can integrate them (Huntsville Center) in the health facility planning perspective.”
Huntsville Center support to the DHA is expansive with the Center’s Medical Facilities Mandatory Center of Expertise (MCX), located in Alexandria, Virginia, partnering with Headquarters U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), its regional divisions, geographic districts, project delivery teams, and other stakeholders to provide healthcare facility engineering expertise and the highest quality medical facility life cycle support.
The Center’s Medical Division, under the Installation Support and Programs Management Directorate, provides project services to support outfitting, renovating and maintaining DHA facilities around the world.