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81st MDG facility upgraded to 'Keesler Medical Center'

  • Published
  • By Steve Pivnick
  • 81st Medical Group Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Keesler can again boast that it is home to a medical center.

Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum, 81st Medical Group commander, surprised those attending the Feb. 1 official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the hospital's new Back Bay Tower with the good news.

The Keesler Medical Center designation was changed in early 2010 to meet the requirements of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission which mandated the facility be converted to a "community hospital." The BRAC also authorized $60 million to construct a new inpatient tower.

In early 2012, Cornum had asked former Air Force Surgeon Gen. Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles Green to approve renaming the facility "Keesler Medical Center." Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Thomas Travis, current surgeon general, approved the change in a Jan. 30 memo that stated, "This memo shall serve as approval for the 81st MDG to use the name Keesler Medical Center, effective immediately. The 81st MDG's importance as a critical Air Force medical readiness training platform and its contribution to care in the Gulf Coast region merits the use of this name."

Cornum took the opportunity of the ribbon-cutting to specifically thank two members of the Gulf Coast community for their efforts in encouraging the BRAC commission not to reduce the Keesler medical treatment facility to a clinic, which was what was the Department of Defense recommended.

"Myrtis Franke (Gulfport office director for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran) and General Clark Griffith (retired lieutenant general and current Biloxi city councilman) were strong advocates on our behalf," Cornum said. "They were responsible for retaining our role as a hospital rather than becoming a clinic. (Hurricane) Katrina also played a role in the final decision as senior leadership in Washington was dedicated to ensuring Keesler would return to its pre-Katrina status."

The "Dragon Medic" leader also thanked the 81st MDG staff for all they had done to maintain the medical center's superior medical care which drove the final decision.