JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, October 11, 2007 11

ByMarshaChildsNHJaxMarketing

Naval Hospital Jax Family Medicine Department Division Officer Cmdr.

Elizabeth Breza, competed in the Navy golf trials at NAS Oceana Aeropines Golf Club in Virginia and qualified for the 2007 Navy Golf Team Sept. 24-26. Later in the week, Breza went on to compete in the Armed Forces Championship and finished fifth, just shy of qualifying for the U.S. Armed Forces team. Nevertheless, she finished as the top Navy female golfer on the course.

“Competition was pretty tight and although this was one of my best scoring years, the scores were lower than in years past,” she said. The top two women and top six men from the tournament rep-resented the U.S. Armed Forces in the Conseil International du Sport Militaire’s World Military Golf Championships (CISM) in South Africa.

PGA Professional Scott Mahl-berg, Breza’s coach, lives in San Diego, which is Breza’s and her husband, Patrick’s home of resi-dence. Breza said she feels com-fortable working with Mahlberg remotely. Her husband, who

stayed in San Diego during his wife’s Jacksonville tour, takes les-sons from Mahlberg and passes along tips from their coach on improving her game.

Breza never touched a golf club before joining the Navy 21 years ago. “I grew up playing softball and baseball and soccer,” she said, “and I grew up in the suburbs of central New Jersey. Back then, golf was considered a sport for the wealthy, for those who belonged to a country club.”

She also thought it was a stupid and boring game. It wasn’t until she overheard her mother explain to her brother it was a good busi-nessman’s game that she became interested in the sport.

Her only regret was she didn’t take lessons when she first start-ed playing seriously at her first duty station in Rota, Spain.

“It becomes very challenging to try and get rid of all the bad hab-its,” she concluded.

During a tour of duty in Hawaii, Breza competed in her first major tournaments. While assigned to various Marine commands, she played on the All-Marine Golf Team in the Armed Forces Championship in 1997 and again in 2000.

The Navy had a reciprocal agreement with the Marines that

allowed Sailors on Marine teams. The Marines were challenged to find a full compliment of women for their mixed team.

Later, Breza qualified for the All Navy Golf Team and made the Armed Forces Team in 2001 and qualified for the All Navy Golf Team from 2004-06. She also qualified for the U.S. Golf Association Women’s Mid-Amateur in 2005 and 2006.

In 2003, Breza was unable to try out for the Navy team. She deployed to Camp Doha in Kuwait for three months as a liaison offi-cer to the Navy Surgeon’s Office for Navy Central Command based in Bahrain. She dealt with medi-cal issues for the Fleet Marine Force—the operating forces, which she found very rewarding but challenging.

Breza continues to compete in local tournaments and enjoys playing in the Hawaii State Amateur tournament every year. In January, she played in the Women’s South Atlantic Amateur Golf Championship in Ormond Beach, where she made her one and only hole in one on a par 3, two-tiered green.

“That was pretty awesome,” she stated. ”As long as you have fun that is what counts and that is what’s great about the game.”

FromNavalFacilitiesEngineeringCommandSoutheast

Na v a l H o s p i t a l Jacksonvil le has been working for

some time to upgrade patient care areas. Those i m p r o v e m e n t s m o v e d closer to realization on Sept . 21 when Naval Faci l i t ies Engineering C o m m a n d ( N A V F A C ) Southeast awarded C. Young Construction of Jacksonville a $4.9 million contract for two projects in the main facility.

“Upgrading our facility spaces is an integral com-ponent to ensuring that we continue to provide the highest quality of patient care and patient safety while promoting efficien-cies in delivering that,” said Hospital Commanding Officer Capt. Raquel Bono.

In-patients at the naval hospital will soon have more privacy. The latest hospital areas to undergo renovations and construc-tion are the seventh floor Surgical Recovery Ward and a new in-house phar-macy on the fifth floor. Both projects began Oct. 1.

The goal on the seventh floor is to turn the existing four patient rooms that cur-rently share one bathroom into individual patient rooms each with their own private bathroom.

The finishes on the sev-enth floor will match the design of the newly reno-vated eigth floor Maternal Infant Unit. That design has proven very popular with patients. The seventh floor renovations should be completed by October 2008.

The construction of a new in-patient pharmacy on the fifth floor will begin simultaneously. The new pharmacy will comply with U.S. Pharmaceutical Code 797 requiring intravenous medications be handled in a clean room environment. It is slated for completion in March 2008.

“These are just some of the enhancements patients can expect to see here over the next couple of years, and we are very excit-ed about the benefits the planned facility enhance-ments promise for patients and staff ,” Bono said. “While you may notice hard hat crews in the halls and elevators, we will strive to keep patient impact mini-mal. The great family cen-tered care you are used to at Naval Hospital Jacksonville will continue, but as the planned projects are com-

pleted you will receive that care in a much more attrac-tive and efficient environ-ment. Improving our facili-ties is just one more way we are striving to be First in Service.”

The contract process was spearheaded by Naval Hospital Jax Facilities D e p a r t m e n t w o r k i n g with NAVFAC Southeast Project Contracting Officer

Susan Heuler and Project Construct ion Manager Rusty Dahms.

“They were key players in getting this contract expedited,” according to Hospital Facilities Manager Larry Forbes. “With every-one working together, the contract was solicited and awarded in less than 60 days.”

Navy nurse makes Navy golf team

PhotobyHM1MichaelMorganDemonstrating her putting skills,Cmdr.ElizabethBrezaoncethoughtof golf as a “stupid and boring”game.Breza recently qualified fortheNavyGolfTeam

Renovations, new in-patient pharmacy at NavHosp Jax Keeping

watchPhoto by MC2 Jay Pugh

AW2ChristopherO’DellobservesNimitz-class aircraft carrierUSSHarryS.Truman(CVN75)fromanSH-60Seahawkattachedto the “DustyDogs” ofHS-7.Truman isunderwayconductingcarrierqualificationsintheAtlanticOceanSept.20.