By Steve Pivnick
81st Medical Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- With the late November opening of its renovated operating suite, Keesler Medical Center again will offer a wide range of surgery to eligible beneficiaries. This is a significant step in the medical center's return to pre-Hurricane Katrina operations.

According to Lt. Col. Barbara Coppedge, acting 81st Surgical Operations Squadron surgery flight commander and operating room services element chief, "We are opening four surgical suites and over time will expand back to seven as surgical specialties return."

The 81st MSGS surgical teams will perform a variety of surgical specialties including orthopedics, general surgery and ophthalmology. Oral surgery will also be performed by 81st Dental Squadron maxillofacial surgeons.

Since inpatient services opened on Aug. 15, the surgical staff has used two operating rooms in the new state-of-the-art labor and delivery suites. The unit – which began construction long before Katrina struck – was completed in August 2006. Obstetric service resumes in January 2007.

Coppedge explained that the surgical department developed the reconstitution plan for the operating rooms in early December 2005.

"We submitted packages for replacement items and equipment," she said. "While the ORs were under renovation, Keesler surgical staff members were able to maintain their skills through a resource-sharing agreement with the Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Health Care System facility in Biloxi and other locations."

During the reconstruction, Coppedge was Keesler's liaison with the VA. She said, "We assigned a team of 73 nurses, technicians and providers to the VA to treat active duty personnel." In addition, the Biloxi VA medical center provided instrument sterilization while Keesler Medical Center's central sterile supply, destroyed by Katrina's storm surge, was reconstructed.

She added, "Safety and infection control are paramount for our patients. I am extremely proud of the operating room staff and the tremendous job they have done to prepare for the reopening. Opening of our central sterile supply has had a tremendous impact on our surgical capability and expansion of specialties during our return to full surgical service."

Since the Aug. 15 reopening, Keesler Medical Center surgery teams have completed a total of 155 procedures plus nine after-duty-hours emergencies as of Nov. 7.

Like much of the medical center above the basement level, the operating rooms suffered from Katrina's wrath.

Although the second-floor operating rooms were not directly affected by Hurricane Katrina's storm surge on Aug. 29, 2005, the 2-4 feet of water that swept through the medical center's basement knocked out both normal and emergency power, air handling units and mechanical systems.

"The surgery floor, like most other areas above the basement, escaped visible damage," observed Maj. Jeffrey Van Slyke, 81st Medical Group project health facilities officer and chief of construction and transition. "However, supplemental air handling units and a chiller above two operating rooms received wind damage and required replacement.

"Also after the storm, the air handling systems were off for days resulting in high humidity and mold growth." The major continued, "Operating rooms required extensive rebuild to ensure the cleanest air possible."