MOODY AIR FORCE BASE — The 347th Medical Group, Moody Air Force Base, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated medical treatment facility on base Friday morning.

The renovation was a $13 million military construction project involving the inside and outside of the more than 30-year-old building.

Attending the event were the base’s unit commanders, members of the Valdosta community and members of the 347th Medical Group, who have looked forward to the completion of the facility for over two years.

Brig. Gen. John Folkerts, commander 347th Rescue Wing, Col. Stephen McGuire, previous commander, 347th Medical Group, and Col. Tony Van Goor, commander, 347th Medical Group, were the guest speakers.

During his remarks, Folkerts stressed the missions that are taking place both on and off base by the men and women of Moody.

“We owe the men and women who make these continual day-to-day sacrifices the best,” Folkerts said. “That’s why it’s such a pleasure today to cut the ribbon on this magnificent facility and dedicate its use to the health maintenance of those marvelous airmen, their families and the people who retired who preceded them.”

Folkerts said the building is a first-class ambulatory facility. It will offer health care to the Moody active duty, Guard, Reserve and retired population. The facility will provide services including traditional medicine, life skills, physical therapy, public health and bio-engineering, he said.

“This marvelous clinic … is just one piece of the overall effort to take care the needs of our Moody team members,” Folkerts said. “This is one more element in our efforts to make Moody Air Force Base the finest military facility in the Southeastern United States.”

McGuire said the celebration was not just about the facility, but it was about ideas, partnerships and sacrifices. It’s the idea that the Air Force can renovate a health care facility while it’s still fully operational and save taxpayers millions of dollars, he said. The same thing is scheduled to take place at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Friday’s ceremony was especially satisfying to Col. Van Goor, who has been commander of the 347th Medical Group for about two years. During those two years, 347th MG personnel were expected to give the same continuous care to their patients despite the construction taking place around them.

Van Goor has only a short time to enjoy the facility. He’s scheduled to leave Moody this summer. But he remembers the early days vividly. The contract began in October 1999 and continued until Feb. 15 of this year, he said. “We’re looking at about 29 months,” Van Goor said. “It was pretty difficult, but the thing that I’m going to take with me is the incredible dedication of a team of folks that got together to create something like this. This is one of the first times in Air Force history that an operational building was renovated in a phased process like this.”



To contact reporter Rip Prine, please call 244-3400, ext. 237.