Standing shoulder to shoulder behind a large red ribbon, Colonel Lawrence Connell shouts, "Ready, 1-2-3, cut!"

With a snip, the Stuttgart Army Health Clinic commander, along with four other senior military leaders, officially opened the Stuttgart Clinic Kelley Annex April 27, 2011.

"I want to start out by stating how very proud I am of all the hard work and commitment by a great many folks to make this happen," said Connell, who listed the contributions of the U.S. Army Heidelberg Medical Activity, the Stuttgart Army Health Clinic, the U.S. Africa Command Surgeon’s Office and Special Operations Command Africa.

Now operating Mondays to Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon, the five-patient-room clinic will provide care to Tricare Prime Overseas beneficiaries, which includes active duty service members, activated Guard or Reserve members and command-sponsored family members. Retirees can also be seen at the clinic annex and others as well on a space-available basis.

Captain (Dr.) Zaher Elmir, his NCOIC Army Staff Sergeant Brian Putman, and other staff will provide limited services at the new facility, located in building 3312, next door to the community mail room. Services currently offered are restricted to acute care, which refers to short-term medical treatment for patients having a sudden onset illness or injury. The clinic also can provide many pharmacy refills.

Although the annex grand opening occurred April 27, the staff had been seeing patients for a month. In fact, Brigadier General Nadja West, commander of Europe Regional Medical Command, said more than 200 patients have received care and more than 60 prescriptions had been refilled.

Lieutenant Colonel Steven Lamb, U.S. AFRICOM social media chief, was one of the individuals that recently received care at the new clinic. He noted the time-saving benefit of having a facility on Kelley Barracks.

"Having the clinic here is really a time saver," Lamb said. "Whether you're driving - which means dealing with traffic and finding an open parking spot - or riding the shuttle, it takes more than an hour out of the work day for appointments. Now, patients can just walk to the clinic and get right back to work."

West, an early advocate for the annex on Kelley, said the clinic's location is important "to make sure we properly support our soldiers, our family members, our airmen, marines – all our service members to make sure they’re getting the care in a convenient manner as possible."

To schedule an appointment at the Stuttgart Clinic Kelley Annex, call the Europe Regional Medical Care Call Center DSN 371-2622 or commercial line 06221-17-2622.