Please keep the questions coming!
INSTALLATION & FACILITIES
With summer approaching, is it possible to include more dedicated lap swim time at the base pool during duty hours? Last I checked, swimmers had to be finished with their workout by 7 a.m., and no other time was offered (a lunchtime swim option would be great). Also, I learned that a rock wall is being installed in the pool in a position that will eliminate lap lanes. We appreciate the upgrades and improvements that are being made; however, with no lap lanes, not only will the Scott Shark Swim Team be put at an even greater disadvantage (the kids already practice without starting blocks), but the numerous people who use the lap lanes for fitness and training will no longer have that resource. Is there any way you can look into this issue and see if the rock wall could be re-positioned, so we can have both lap lanes and a rock wall?
Thank you very much for your questions. During the off season, we made significant improvements to the base pool based on customer feedback and the Force Support Squadron’s commitment to revitalizing and expanding capabilities. This year, we were fortunate to replace the entire pool liner in both the adult and child pools. You’ll also notice we installed an Aqua (Rock) Climbing Wall, which has recreational and fitness advantages for both children and adults. These two improvements combined allow us to expand our experiences offered to the entire Scott community.
As we make improvements for Team Scott, there are times when optimizing and sharing space is required. This year to meet the needs of the families, learn to swim program participants, lap swimmers, Sharks Swim Team, pool parties and off-base partnerships, we are establishing a dedicated lap lane during recreational swim hours throughout the day (1-6 p.m. Monday-Friday) along with the traditional lap swim hours from 6-7 a.m. on these same days. By dedicating a lap lane during these hours, we believe this will meet the needs of a variety of swimmers interested in physical fitness. Doing so will require all participants to be mindful and respectful of scheduled programs occurring simultaneously. As we implement, it may lead to program modifications by our staff to improve efficiencies and better serve customers, so your patience is always appreciated.
As for the addition of the rock wall, it will not interfere with any of the lanes during the Sharks Swim Team’s practice times as the wall will not be in use during that time. Swim team practice is a reserved, dedicated practice time for the team. As always, the Force Support Squadron is looking at ways to improve services to the installation and we ask lap swimmers, parents, and children for their flexibility as we incorporate new programs while continuously focusing on the improving quality of life programs for the Scott community.
I have a carpool pass for building 1700. I always try to use regular parking, but there are days that is not possible so I use my carpool parking pass. Today when we returned from lunch, there was no available regular parking, and the carpool parking in the front of building 1700 was full, so we parked in the carpool parking spot behind building 1700. When I left work for the day, I was surprised to see a giant orange “warning” sticker on my vehicle. This sticker was extremely tacky and took a lot of time and effort to remove. Is there anything you can do to stop the use of these types of stickers? Might I also suggest that all base parking lots accept any carpool pass to alleviate confusion?
Thank you for your question and suggestion. Based on your experience, we collaborated with our mission partners on base to come up with a solution to standardize carpool parking rules across the installation. Now, you should be able to park in any carpool space as long as you have a pass. Regarding the stickers, those will no longer be used on cars anywhere on the installation for any reason. Please let me know if you experience this problem in the future, and thank you again for bringing this to my attention.
I feel that the base pharmacy does not do a very good job at advertising closures for Training Day to those of us who do not use social media or utilize the pharmacy very often. This has caused a great inconvenience to me and others. Is there a way to keep the pharmacy open every day except for holidays, family days in conjunction to holidays, and weekends? I understand Training Day is important, but people may have immediate need for prescriptions and maybe don’t know where to go off base, may not have a means to go off base, may not have the extra cash to pay for off base pharmacies, etc. Perhaps if the pharmacy is to remain closed on base Training Days, then a skeleton crew could remain at the pharmacy for people who have new, essential, need-to-fill today prescriptions. The people who are going for refills and new, non-essential prescriptions will be informed to come back the next day (a sign at the front door may be best in this situation).
Thank you for your question! We apologize for your inconvenience; it is frustrating any time a service is unavailable, especially after already making the drive to the base. Patient healthcare needs arise 24/7 on every day of the year, including holidays, family days and training days; however, the pharmacy hours and scope of available medications are both limited. To ensure patient medication needs are met anytime and anywhere, the pharmacy collaborates with 58,000 retail pharmacies resulting in pharmacy availability within five miles of 98 percent of our patients’ homes. The clinic provides as much care as possible; however, it is inevitable that patients will occasionally require support from TRICARE network providers and pharmacies.
With regard to eliminating training days for the pharmacy, we carefully considered this request. The primary mission of the clinic is training and equipping Airmen to maximize military readiness. Eliminating this training time and pharmacy participation in military exercises risks diminishing the military preparedness of our Airmen as well as the high level quality of patient care provided by the department; however, advertising the training day hours can be improved.
Currently, the pharmacy prints the next four closures onto every prescription dispensed. Additionally, patients who call-in refills are provided a message about the upcoming closures, and these closures are publicized on websites as well. Additionally, the pharmacy stays open two hours beyond the last patient appointment on training days to ensure anyone provided a prescription from their PCM in the morning has time to pick up their medication before pharmacy training begins.
The last notification is the hours of operation posted at the clinic and pharmacy entrances. In the case of the satellite pharmacy, the notification sign is inside the door and could be hard to read. To improve visibility, a work order has been placed to etch the training day closure for ‘noon on the second Thursday of every month’ onto the glass on the door. If there are any questions about whether the medical clinic or pharmacies are open, please call 256-WELL (9355) ahead of making the trip to the base.