New year brings new pharmacy

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ceaira Tinsley
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  After six months of renovations and upgrades, the 23d Medical Group's pharmacy is slated to reopen Dec. 21, here.

Renovations on the pharmacy began by a local construction company in July 2015 and cost more than $1.5 million. Moody AFB renovated the pharmacy in hopes of creating more space for workers and patients while increasing efficiency.

"This is a part of the bigger campus modernization, so this is kind of like a facelift for everything; a fresh look," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Nicole Escher, 23d Medical Support Squadron pharmacy flight commander.

Escher believes one upgrade the pharmacy's customers will enjoy is the expansion made to the waiting area.

"We will gain approximately 20 seats in our waiting area in front of the windows and an additional waiting area on the side," said Escher. "There will be more room for (customers) to have a seat and there will be better visual displays. There will be two monitors displaying the information as far as whose medications are ready for pick-up."

The new layout is also designed to streamline the pharmacy process by making the medications easier for technicians to store and access.

"For us in the pharmacy, it is going to be this additional space where we can organize our medications," said Escher. "Before, we were cramped and stuff was overflowing. Now we have enough space to have everything organized."

Each month, the pharmacy fills an average of 13,000 prescriptions for approximately 11,000 beneficiaries in Georgia and Florida. The increased space is designed to boost proficiency and overall customer satisfaction.

"It allows us to fill prescriptions in a faster capacity because the layout is more practical," said Master Sgt. Allan Hogan, 23d MDSS NCO in charge of pharmacy flight.  "It's set up for everything to be close and before we would have to walk a pretty far distance, but now that's reduced to a quarter of the time."

With the windows to the pharmacy rising soon, both Escher and Hogan are ready to serve their beneficiaries in their new found space.