By James Hannah
The Associated Press

DAYTON - A large group of medics who work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will be sent to Iraq, resulting in a temporary reduction of some surgeries and surgical appointments at the base hospital, officials said Friday.

It also will mean that some patients will be referred to other medical facilities for surgeries, said Al Eakle, spokesman for the 74th Medical Group.

Wright-Patterson Medical Center is the largest military hospital in Ohio and one of the largest in the country. About 40,000 patients, primarily military personnel and their families along with retired servicemen and women, use the hospital.

The 150 medics will be sent primarily to field hospitals or critical-care units in Iraq, replacing medics currently serving there. The Wright-Patterson medics, who will begin leaving later this month, will be deployed for four months.

The deployment will hit the surgical staff at the hospital the hardest.

Col. Gary Walker, surgical specialties flight commander for the 74th Surgical Operations Squadron, said the deployment will include surgeons, nurses and anesthesia personnel, affecting the entire operation.

"Even if we were to have a full complement of surgeons, our ability to offer surgery in a timely fashion will be adversely affected," Walker said.

Eakle said the surgeries affected include thoracic and vascular, and that officials expect a 20 percent decrease in elective surgeries being done at the hospital.

"We'll still be doing surgeries - just not as many," Eakle said. "And emergency and urgent cases will be supported."

Most patients come from within a 50-mile radius, but a few come from neighboring states and from as far as 400 miles away.

In California, military dependents and retirees are having to wait longer for care at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton and its clinics because the fighting in Iraq has thinned the supply of doctors and nurses.