The 81st Medical Group operates one of the largest Air Force medical facilities in the Air Force. Its primary mission is to maintain medical readiness for worldwide contingencies by providing quality, cost-effective health care for more than 27,000 enrollees, including almost 7,500 active-duty members. In addition, the 81st MDG commander oversees the Gulf Coast Multi-Service Market, which includes five military medical treatment facilities from Mobile, Ala., to New Orleans, coordinating care for 80,000 eligible beneficiaries along the Gulf Coast.

The 81st Medical Group provides the most comprehensive array and quality of services available in the Gulf Coast area. TRICARE Prime is the DOD’s premier program for delivering comprehensive health care. The 81st MDG Hospital is clearly the best place to enroll for most all health care situations.

The 81st MDG has the third largest deployment platform in the Air Force Medical Service and second in AETC. On average, Keesler deploys more than 200 personnel annually in support of contingencies around the world as well as medical-deployment-for-training (humanitarian) missions. The Keesler hospital is also one of three Air Force medical facilities designated to support the National Disaster Medical System as a Federal Coordinating Center. They manage and maintain memorandums of agreement with 24 civilian medical facilities throughout the Gulf Coast.

The hospital offers almost 60 services and education programs with a staff of more than 1,600 military and civilian members and partnerships with Tricare, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System medical center and Gulfport Memorial Hospital. The hospital has seven newly-renovated surgery suites and a myriad of improvements throughout the ground floor including flood barriers on external doors and a re-alignment of high-dollar assets to floors above the basement level. Construction of a new $50+ million inpatient tower began in late 2009 with completion scheduled for September 2011. A new $10 million Radiation Oncology Center was completed in October 2009 and began treating patients in March 2010.