Health Care

The primary mission of the Columbus Air Force Base Clinic is to provide peacetime health care to active-duty personnel and ensure they are ready for wartime deployments. Active-duty members are the first priority for medical services; they are entitled to receive complete treatment.

Our base clinic offers clinical services in primary care and family practice, minor surgery, counseling services and optometry. Air Force personnel on flying status are seen in the flight medicine clinic.

TRICARE Prime enrollees are the second priority of the clinic. All other beneficiaries will be treated on a space-available basis.

The clinic is an outpatient care facility and does not have an emergency room. Life-threatening conditions are stabilized for transport to local hospitals. Call 662-434-CARE (2273) or go to the 14th Medical Group website.

When you move, TRICARE moves with you. No matter where you go in the world, TRICARE is there before, during and when you get to your next duty station.

There are steps you need to take to make sure changes to your TRICARE coverage go smoothly. Understand that when you move, you may have to use a different TRICARE option. Visit TRICARE Moving to learn more.

Before you move, you should take care of any routine medical needs, including immunizations, and fill your prescriptions so you have enough while traveling. If you need care during your move, visit TRICARE Getting Care When Traveling to learn what to do.

Filling prescriptions while traveling

You should refill prescriptions before traveling. But if you run out of a prescription drug while traveling, visit TRICARE Filling Prescriptions When Traveling.

Getting dental care while traveling

Getting dental care while traveling depends on your location and whether you are a service member or family member.

• If you are an active-duty service member within the United States or in U.S. territories, and near a military installation, you may be able to get emergency dental care at the dental treatment facility, or DTF, if available. If not, contact the TRICARE Active Duty Dental Care Program before you see a dentist and tell the contractor about your move. You will need to get an authorization before you see a dentist. The Active Duty Dental Care Program will work with you, so you can get care from a local network dentist.
• If you are an active-duty service member at an overseas location, call the TRICARE overseas regional call center to get authorization before you see a civilian dentist.
• If you are an active-duty family member within the United States, in U.S. territories or at an overseas location, you can find out if any nearby military dental treatment facility treats active-duty family members. If you're enrolled in the TRICARE dental program, call the TRICARE dental program contractor or visit their website to find a provider. You will need to get an authorization before you see the dentist.

With permanent change of station orders, ask for a copy of your medical and dental records from your military treatment facility and the dental treatment facility. Do this at least one month before your PCS date. The MTF should also transfer a copy of your record and any family records to your new duty station or you may be able to hand carry them to your new duty station.

If you want someone else to be able to get medical or dental information on you or your family while you are moving, you need to complete a DD Form 2870, "Authorization for Disclosure of Medical or Dental Information."

For more information on getting copies of medical records, visit TRICARE Request Copies of Medical Records.

Medical Care

The primary mission of the Columbus Air Force Base Clinic is to provide peacetime health care to active-duty personnel and ensure they are fit for duty and ready for wartime deployments.

Active-duty members are the first priority of Columbus’ medical services. They are entitled to receive complete treatment. Our base clinic offers clinical services in primary care, family practice, minor procedures, counseling and mental health services, physical therapy and optometry.

Air Force personnel on flying status are seen in the flight medicine clinic.

Other TRICARE Prime enrollees are the second priority of the clinic. All other beneficiaries will be treated on a space-available basis. Upon reporting to their new duty station, active-duty personnel will report to the TRICARE Service Center to enroll in TRICARE Prime. If family members want to enroll in TRICARE Prime, they must fill out applications at the TRICARE Service Center.

Emergency Care

The clinic is an outpatient care facility and does not have an emergency room. Life-threatening conditions are stabilized for transport to local hospitals.

The base clinic's support services include radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, immunizations, nutritional medicine, health promotions and public health.

Local civilian consultants and health care providers at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, and Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, supplement the professional staff as needed. Except for limited prenatal evaluations, obstetrics patients are referred to local hospitals that feature modern labor-delivery-recovery suites and neonatal intensive care units.

Services for dependents and retirees that are not available through the base clinic are often covered by TRICARE, the civilian health and medical program.

Hours of Operation, Appointments

The clinic is open Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. The Family Practice and Flight Medicine clinics see patients 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All clinic services are closed on the first Thursday of each month from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and on the third Thursday of each month all day for readiness training, as well as federal holidays and command family days. Contact the Kortiz Medical Clinic at 662-434-2273 for appointments and any additional information.

For authorization for medical care during duty hours, call 662-434-2273. TRICARE enrollees who are enrolled in another area must call the region in which they are enrolled for authorizations outside of their region.

Dental Care

The Dental Clinic serves the active-duty population. Eligible family members are referred off base. There are many dentists who accept TRICARE Family Member Dental Plan; a list is available from the Dental Clinic.

Local Community Information

After-hours emergency care is provided by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in Columbus. It offers a full range of medical services -- hospitals, clinics, therapy and more. TRICARE referrals are generally made to Baptist Memorial.