4th MDG wins ACC awards, recognition

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Mariah Tolbert
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The 4th Medical Group is no stranger to knowing what the phrase "Fourth but First," truly means.

Recently, the 4th MDG was recognized by Air Combat Command for six individual awards.

The individuals are:

Capt. Andrea Rope was awarded the United States Air Force Biomedical Clinician Category 1 Officer of the Year. During her time, the 4th MDG was number two in ACC and number five in Air Force for productivity.

Mrs. Kelly Piwowarski was recognized as the Dental Civilian of the Year. Piwowarski was the first civilian data assistant. She verified $38,000 in procedures and $3 million in services. Piwowarski also managed the dental readiness assurance program and pushed the dental readiness class to 98 percent, 3 percent above Air Force standard.

SSgt Jessica Bradley was awarded U.S. Air Force Laboratory NCO of the Year. She assumed the NCO in charge role and supervised seven members for four months. Over this time, she covered 42,000 tests valued at $73,000. She was also the Accreditation Program manager, surpassing the national proficiency by 18 percent.

Master Sgt. Shannon Stoner was awarded the Air Force Physical Medicine Craftsman award. She led a diverse flight of 16 Airmen and a team to the number one position in ACC for a Clinic Patient Safety Program award.

Staff Sgt. Katie Pane was awarded the Air Force Public Health NCO of the Year. Her team achieved number one in ACC for Occupational Health Compliance. Pane also created a questionnaire of 28 items that cut process time by 10 hours a year.

Maj. Joseph Coles received the U.S. Air Force Clinical Excellence award in the field grade category. He oversaw 5,200 mental health visits and was the sole provider for one month.

Collectively, the Strike Eagle Medics also received recognition as a group:

The 4th MDG was recognized as ACC's Best Ambulatory Clinic Patient Safety Program. This is the third consecutive year that the Medical Group has taken the award and is unprecedented not only for ACC, but across the MAJCOMs.

It was also recognized as the Air Force's "Top 10 Best Performing Medical Treatment Facility." Additionally, the 4th MDG hit 113 percent of its business target, generating 255,000 visits and fueling a 99 percent go rate for 481 rated aircrew to execute 19,000 flying hours at ACC's largest F-15E wing.

Finally, the clinic aced yet another inspection, scoring a perfect 100 for its lab's compliance of 1,800 items with zero finding by the College of American Pathologists. Consequently, the lab renewed its accreditations for another 2 years.