Keesler Air Force Base Medical Center Saved

ARLINGTON, VA. - After a summer of worrying and waiting, Keesler Medical Center was rescued from the Pentagon's base closure and realignment list Thursday afternoon.

The Base Realignment and Closure commission voted 7-2 to adopt an amendment by commissioner Samuel Skinner to strike Keesler and Fort Knox from the portion of the BRAC bill that aimed to close inpatient services at nine bases around the country.

Skinner's amendment leaves the option on the table of making Keesler a community hospital. He said it was important to be able to handle patient overnight stays at both Keesler and Fort Knox.

The commissioners discussed Keesler and Fort Knox at length, expressing concern that the surrounding communities might not be able to handle patient overflow as a result of realignment.

BRAC chairman Anthony Principi said that if the Department of Defense could not certify TRICARE's acceptance at local hospitals, supporting the motion would not be smart.

"I'm disappointed the Department of Defense did not collaborate with my former department, the Department of Veterans Affairs," he said.

Commissioner Sue Turner said turning Keesler into an ambulatory center "is a bit of a stretch for me."

"It astounds me we would take an Air Force medical center down to an ambulatory center," she said.SunHerald

I attribute this to the efforts of Representative Gene Taylor who has worked steadfastly and appeared at the BRAC meetings in New Orleans to plead the case for the Keesler Medical Center. Staff member Brian Martin was the one who discovered a mistake in how the index calculations were made. Good work guys!!