Sleep disorder center groundbreaking

Andrew Welch, New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System director, and Col. Jeffrey White, 377th Medical Group commander, don hard hats and take shovels to break ground for a new, eight-bed sleep disorder center. Supervising is Bill Lawrence (left), VA's project manager for the construction, and Dick Hart, 377th MDG facility chief. (Photo by Jamie Burnett)

Construction set to begin on sleep disorder center

Published Oct. 6, 2015
By Maureen Casey
377th Medical Group

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Officials from the Air Force and New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System grabbed shovels and donned hard hats and broke ground on a new site for a sleep disorder center at a ceremony Oct. 5.

The new building, expected to open in late 2016, will provide an up-to-date facility for diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders for veterans and active-duty personnel. It will feature eight fully equipped patient sleep rooms.

The center is being built as part of the medical group's partnership with the NMVAHCS. The partnership, called Joint Venture, was developed to share resources to improve access to care for the patients of both organizations and save taxpayer dollars.

"The sleep disorder center is the latest innovation in our long-standing partnership," said Chief Master Sgt. Nathaniel Perry, 377th Medical Group superintendent. "The new center will mean better care for VA and AF patients and will save money in the process."

The NMVAHCS and 377 MDG evaluated the current and future need for sleep studies and determined that building their own sleep disorder center at the NMVAHCS would meet the two major criteria of improved patient access to care and reduced costs. The proposal was submitted and won funding in the amount of $4.9 million.

The NMVAHCS opened a temporary four-bed sleep disorder clinic in April 2013. Having an in-house facility has saved the government $2 million in cost avoidance.

While the sleep disorder center is under construction, a portion of the roadway leading to the front of the 377th MDG will be closed to traffic. It will still be easy to drive into the parking lot for medical appointments.