An honor to serve you – thanks for your patience Published June 28, 2010 By Col. John C. Sell 21st Medical Group commander PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Each duty day, approximately 500 men and women take their positions in the various areas of 21st Medical Group to provide you with quality, timely and customer-focused medical services. It's a responsibility we take seriously and certainly with pride and honor. As Air Force Space Command's largest military treatment facility, the 21st Medical Group is a very busy clinic as we provide care at Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases and in the clinic at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. On an average day we see more than 250 patients in our family practice clinic while our medical professionals in pediatrics, flight medicine, physical therapy, women's health, optometry and mental health will see an additional 260 patients. Across the base, about 110 patients will have an appointment with our dental staff as we ensure our active duty members are PIMR green in a Class 1 or Class 2 dental status and medically ready should they need to deploy. It doesn't end there. The 21st Medical Group fills more than 1,100 prescriptions daily, whether written by providers from Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, the 10th Medical Group at the U. S. Air Force Academy, or our medical partners located throughout the Greater Colorado Springs area. Each day our medical laboratory will run approximately 400 tests, the immunization clinic will administer more than 150 immunizations (yes, I know most kids and even adults won't publicly admit they hate getting stuck by a needle), our area dental lab - the largest in the Department of Defense - will produce 70 dental prosthetics shipped anywhere around the globe, and our radiology department will shoot about 40 X-rays. We do all of this to win your trust and confidence in the medical care we provide to you, our 26,000 plus enrolled beneficiaries, and we are committed to do it with quality and friendly customer service and professionalism - always. With the arrival of the summer season comes the usual turnover of personnel with the numerous PCS cycle. The 21st Medical Group is no different. As we face the annual challenge of gaps in our medical personnel arriving during PCS season, I want to extend my personal thanks in advance for your patience as you might experience a delay to receive an appointment. Our providers and administrators are continuously looking at ways to increase appointment availability while ensuring each patient receives the appropriate amount of time to treat their medical condition. As our patients, you can also help us with our efficiency and access by doing two simple things: 1. Keep your appointment and show up 15 minutes before your appointment time. This allows us to get you checked in, take your vital signs and get you settled in the exam room before the provider sees you. 2. And most importantly, if you can't make your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance so we can offer your appointment to someone else. Last year, 6,700 appointments were lost due to patients not showing up for their scheduled appointment. This not only hurts our productivity, but also denies the appointment to a patient who needs one. The 21st Medical Group is honored to be trusted as your health care partner. Together as a team, we can better serve you and keep you healthy. May all of you have a safe and healthy summer.