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Manas hospital gets walls after years in tent

Officials at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, cut the ribbon on a new hardened-structure hospital building Thursday, the Air Force announced Monday.

The hospital, operated by the 376th Expeditionary Medical Group, includes an updated inpatient area, operating room, emergency room, a new laboratory, a dental office and three individual patient care rooms, according to an Air Force news release.

The base has been serving as a transit point for patients coming to and from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, and military facilities in Germany for nearly seven years, the press release said, but the hospital was previously housed in a tent facility.

Bagram, Manas and Balad Air Base, Iraq, all have gotten new hardened facilities during the past two years.

“This facility will provide our community with a high-quality work environment and state-of-the-art technology and equipment for the [group] to effectively and efficiently achieve our mission of providing quality health care for our patients,” Col. (Dr.) Thomas W. Grace, the 376th EMDG commander, said in a statement. “It’s been a long, hard road to get this project to where it is today.”

It took nearly six years to make the permanent hospital structure for Manas a reality, according to the press release.

Medical personnel prefer hardened facilities to tents because climate control is easier and the facilities are less dusty and more sanitary.