Coming soon: a better building for better health

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zachiah Roberson
  • 319 Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The 319th Medical Group is about to begin exterior and interior renovation work to help improve not only the facility, but the way in which staff work for their patients.

To assure that productivity will not slow down, members and construction workers will cooperate to keep the Group's mission running at full capacity by relocating certain medical sections and moving others to different areas of the facility.  Specifically, the Behavioral Health, Public Health, Resource Management, Bioenvironmental Engineering and the 319th Medical Group Command section will be temporarily relocating to building 631 for the duration of the project.  Building 631 is located directly across the street from Outdoor Recreation. 

"By relocating our personnel to building 631, we can minimize their interaction with the construction workers as much as possible to allow our Air Force members to continue to carry out their mission unimpeded," said Capt. Corby Heyne, 319th Medical Support Squadron Medical Logistics Flight Commander.

With the renovations scheduled to begin Feb. 19, the 319th MDG building will be closed from that afternoon until noon, Feb. 23, when they will re-open and begin working from their new sections of the building. The entrance to the building will also be singularized to the West entrance near Flight Medicine.

Along with office changes, it is stressed that patients use the designated area for parking which will be the West entrance parking lot. However, patients attending physical therapy will still park in the same location as before.

"Though there will be construction, the impact to patient care will be minimized as much as possible, which is the main reason for the sections' moving," said Christopher Arnold, 319th Medical Group Facility Manager. "We won't have patients walking near or around ongoing construction."

Members of the 319th MDG will not only continue their mission, but also learn to work in their new environment and adapt to the new possibilities change can bring throughout approximately one year of construction.

"We will have many improvements throughout the Med-Group with these changes," said Arnold. "We will not only be much more energy efficient, we will have much better air quality and a better quality of living overall, it's going to be a great change for all here at the base."