Medical Group faces manning shortages in the months ahead Published May 8, 2008 36th Medical Group ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- During the coming summer PCS season, the 36th Medical Group will experience the some of the same manning challenges the remainder of the Wing goes through every year at this same time. We will experience a shortage of clinicians and nurses over the next few months that may affect our beneficiaries' access to care. However, we have developed several methods to ease us through the summer without significantly degrading the service and care we provide to Team Andersen. One of the methods the Medical Group has developed to meet the medical needs of our Andersen population is to collaborate with a local clinic for dependent health care. We have entered in to an agreement with American Medical Clinic (AMC) to provide urgent and acute care to our dependent family members. AMC is run by a former active duty Family Medicine/Flight Medicine physician trained at the USAF Medical Center, Eglin AFB, FL. He employs several United States trained physicians at the clinic which is located just south of Micronesia Mall on Marine Corps Drive. The appointments at AMC for TRICARE Prime enrolled family members will be provided at not cost to the patient. As always, we ask that you call our appointment line at 366-WELL (366-9366). If an appointment in our clinic is not available, the appointment clerk will create a referral for our referral management nurse. The referral nurse will review the requests to determine if the patient can be sent downtown. She will then call the patient with information regarding the time of the appointment at AMC. We would like to remind everyone that health care is a partnership between the patient, their families and the clinicians. One way to foster this relationship is by knowing what your medications are for and having a list in hand when going to the clinic for an appointment. This will help the clinicians when comparing the medications listed in our computer system and what you say you are taking - prescribed medications, over-the-counter medications, vitamins or herbs. Another way to build this relationship is by arriving to an appointment at the show time that was given by the appointment clerk. This helps us to keep the clinic on time. It is also important that patients do not "fail to show" for an appointment. If you need to cancel your appointment, please call us far enough in advance of the scheduled appointment so it can used for someone else. Finally, we ask everyone to provide feedback to the 36th Medical Group by completing a Commander's Comment Card available in all our clinics or by calling 366-6536. Please tell us how we are doing and if we are meeting your needs. The Medical Group should be fully manned and back to normal operations by the end of September. At that time we will have our full complement of Family Medicine and Flight Medicine physicians as well as a Pediatrician and a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. We appreciate you patience and understanding during the upcoming period of transition.