During an appointment, whether a patient is scheduled with their primary care manager or they stop at the emergency room, they may have a variety of experiences. The Joint Outpatient Experience Survey plays a critical role in enabling patient to communicate their experiences.

The 59th Medical Wing Family Emergency Center considers rankings from JOES as areas of improvement. The goal, to be number one ranked emergency room in each category each month.

While this may seem like a lofty goal, the FEC continues to work toward it with high quality patient care as the goal.

“The Family Emergency Center shares the same ethos as any other emergency room in the Air Force; we get the job done,” said Lt. Col. Michael Edging, 59th Medical Operations Squadron Emergency Services flight commander. “No one gets turned away here. We do everything we can to help you.”

The FEC was rated number nine out of ten emergency rooms in the Air Force at the beginning of the year. After continuing to make improvements from patient feedback from the JOES, the FEC reached number one in four of the five categories and number one overall in recent months.

It’s important to keep in mind the FEC here at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center is free standing, but it’s being compared to fully functioning ERs, meaning the emergency center is connected to a clinic rather than a hospital.

“Since this is the busiest emergency room in the Air Force, our team is used to being busy,” said Maj. Andrew Gausepohl, 59th Medical Operations Squadron FEC medical director. “COVID-19 wasn’t a shock to the system like it was many other emergency rooms. Our crews were and always are ready to respond.”

Even through this pandemic, the FEC is striving for the highest quality patient care. The only path to change is through feedback. Achieving that begins with the patient.