Medics add 18 to staff during July Published Aug. 6, 2007 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Keesler Medical Center welcomed 18 new providers to its staff last month. The new medics' specialties are podiatry, cardio-thoracic surgery, oncology, radiology, pathology, plastic surgery, pediatric cardiology, rheumatology, nephrology, urology, emergency medicine, refractive surgery, neuro- radiology, internal medicine and chiropractic. In addition, with the return of the residency programs, seven internal medicine and six general surgery residents are seeing patients. Three obstetrics and gynecology residents spend six months at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and six months at Keesler Medical Center. Six pediatric residents assigned to the UMMC complete two-month rotations at Keesler each academic year. "We are excited to have the new providers join the Kessler team," said Col. (Dr.) James Gasque, chief of the 81st Medical Group medical staff. "We are on target to restoring our clinical services. "In addition, we are aggressively preparing to resume Keesler Medical Center's heart program this fall. Lt. Cols. (Drs.) Jerry Pratt and Broadus Atkins will be our cardiothoracic surgeons and spearhead our open heart surgery."