101st Airborne Division leaders tour Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

Fort Campbell, KY – The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell Commanding General Maj. Gen. Brett G. Sylvia and the division’s Command Sgt. Maj. Charles D. Walker toured Blanchfield Army Community Hospital recently to learn more about the hospital’s mission and capabilities to support to the division and eligible Military Health System beneficiaries in the community.

“After only a few weeks in command and in my role as senior commander, it was really important to come and see the incredibly committed team that’s here at Blanchfield because they are serving the Soldiers, families, and the veterans of this community,” said Maj. Gen. Brett G. Sylvia, who took command as the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell Commanding General, July 20th.

BACH is part of the Defense Health Agency’s Military Health System, a network of 55 full-service hospitals and more than 370 clinics, located on military installations around the world.

Col. Sam Preston, BACH commander, said that the visit was an opportunity to show how BACH supports a “Ready Force and Healthy Future” by leveraging high quality and high acuity care, innovative technology, and partnerships to prepare the Total Force for global operations while supporting for those entrusted to our care.

In addition to supporting the medical and dental readiness of Soldiers from the 101st, 5th Special Forces Group, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and other units on post, BACH provides primary and specialty care services to more than 100,000 TRICARE beneficiaries on Fort Campbell and surrounding communities in Kentucky and Tennessee, and from the Woodson Health Clinic, Rock Island Arsenal Illinois. The mission also includes a Reserve medical Soldier Readiness Processing site at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

“It was an opportunity for us to discuss the many things that we do, not only here at the hospital, but across the seven-state service area,” said Preston.

All combined, BACH’s Army and civilian staff care for about 3,500 outpatients and 24 hospitalized patients a day.

Labor and delivery staff help welcome an average of 4 babies each day, and has been nationally recognized as one of the best hospitals in the United States to receive maternity care.

BACH features an 8-bed Intensive Care Unit that is connected to the Department of Defense Joint Tele-Critical Care Network, which integrates 24/7 access to highly skilled critical care physicians, or intensivists, from DHA medical centers, or “hubs”, like Naval Medical Center San Diego and Brook Army Medical Center.

The hospital team conducts about 14 surgeries daily, performs nearly 300 different laboratory services, 379 radiological scans, and fills more than 3,400 prescriptions.

The hospital and outlying facilities are staffed by about 2,000 Soldiers, federal civilians, and contractors and augmented by Army providers assigned to the 101st, 531st Hospital Center, and other units.

In addition to their healthcare delivery role, Soldiers assigned to BACH must remain proficient in their Warrior Tasks. BACH Soldiers were named the number one unit in the United States Army Medical Command for Soldier Readiness for the second time in three years.
 
After visiting the hospital, Sylvia shared his thoughts on meeting the team and how they support the mission.
 
“What they give not only makes our Soldiers stronger and fitter and healthier, but they make our families proud to be part of a military community and happy to serve. They know that if anything were to happen to them, to their families, to their Soldiers, that they will be more than well taken care of by the medical team. That is why it was important for me to take the time and come here and just tell them how much I appreciate them.”