Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center
Encyclopedia
Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in 1917. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of "The Provost Marshal General School" . The fort is located in Richmond, Jefferson, McDuffie,...
, located near Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
and serves as the headquarters of the Army's Southeast Regional Medical Command, or SERMC. SERMC oversees the Army's hospitals and clinics within the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
.
History
The hospital started as Camp Gordon Station Hospital in 1941, caring for World War II casualties and dependents. It was closed in 1946, but reopened as Camp Gordon became the more permanent Fort Gordon during the Cold War.The hospital's current building, opened for patients in 1976, replaced sprawling, outdated buildings from the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era. During the building's dedication a year prior its opening, it was dedicated in honor of former General of the Army and President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, who made his farewell address to the Army at Fort Gordon in 1961.
President Eisenhower frequented nearby Augusta, Georgia and played golf at the Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is a famous men's golf club. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in January 1933. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual...
, home of The Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters , is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year...
.
Current-day activities
Active-duty personnel and their TRICARETRICARE
TRICARE, formerly known as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services , is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System. TRICARE provides civilian health benefits for military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents,...
beneficiaries use the hospital and clinics as their primary hospital center. Numerous military retirees in the Augusta, Georgia area use the hospital's pharmacy and facilities.
The hospital has also been involved in the growing field of disaster medicine
Disaster medicine
Disaster medicine is the area of physician medical specialization serving the dual areas of providing medical care to disaster survivors and providing medically related disaster preparation, disaster planning, disaster response and disaster recovery leadership throughout the disaster life cycle...
and hosts disaster-drill training events on Fort Gordon involving the civilian medical community and the local region of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
.
The hospital command is also host to the 'Center for Total Access', which features lifelike electronic dummies that respond to stimuli and the effects of administering certain kinds of care and medication in a battlefield situation.
The hospital is a training hospital for military doctors, and partners with the Medical College of Georgia
Medical College of Georgia
Georgia Health Sciences University formerly known as, and now home of the, Medical College of Georgia , is a public academic health center, with its main campus located in the Medical District of Augusta, Georgia. It is the smallest of four research universities in the University System of Georgia...
and Augusta Veterans Affairs
Veterans Affairs
Veterans Affairs is a term of the business that deals with the relation between a government and its veteran communities, usually administered by the designated government agency. It might refer to:*Department of Veterans' Affairs...
Medical Center in training programs and patient care. For example, TRICARE dependents in need of obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
services are sent to MCG, while the Augusta VA runs a spinal-cord rehabilitation unit and an active duty rehabilitation unit, which has hosted many veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In return, civilian, non-TRICARE dependent patients are often sent to Eisenhower for use of its hyperbaric chamber.