Naval Hospital Guam

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Naval Hospital Guam
U.S. Naval Hospital Guam logo.jpg
U.S. Naval Hospital Guam logo
Active1899-1944, 1954-present
Country Guam
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Navy
Type Hospital
Part of Naval Medical Forces Pacific, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Joint Region Marianas
Garrison/HQBuilding 50, Farenholt Ave, Agana Heights, Guam 96910
Nickname(s)USNH Guam
Motto(s)Service Before Self
Commanders
Current
commander		 Captain Thecly H. Scott [1]
Naval Hospital Guam as seen from S. Marine Corps Dr. Naval Hospital Guam.jpg
Naval Hospital Guam as seen from S. Marine Corps Dr.

United States Naval Hospital Guam is a U.S. Navy medical facility on the U.S. territory of Guam. It provides a broad range of medical services to active-duty U.S. military personnel under Joint Region Marianas. Besides the main hospital, the hospital runs a medical clinic and a dental clinic on Naval Base Guam. [2]

Contents

Established in 1899 in the capitol of Hagåtña, it offered general care to the population up until Japanese invasion in 1941. Local CHamoru staff continued to offer medical care during the Japanese occupation until the hospital was destroyed in the U.S. liberation. The hospital was re-established in its current location in Agana Heights in 1954 and treated many casualties from the Vietnam War.

History

To World War II

The Naval Hospital, December 1941 U.S. Naval Hospital, 1941.jpg
The Naval Hospital, December 1941

The hospital traces its history to the year after the U.S. Capture of Guam in the Spanish–American War. In August 1899, the USS Yosemite arrived and Surgeon Philip Leach set about siting and establishing a "Naval Hospital and Dispensary at Agana [now Hagåtña]." The sole medical providers on the island at this time were suruhånus and suruhånas, traditional CHamoru healers. Between August 1899 and July 1900, the Naval hospital treated 1,141 civilian patients, out of a civilian population of 9,630. Recognizing the need for more medical personnel, the Navy began training local people, graduating the first Western-trained midwives in 1901. [3] [4]

Maria Schroeder, the wife of Guam's second governor Seaton Schroeder, fundraised for a hospital to serve the local populace, resulting in the Maria Schroeder Hospital, which opened in 1902. The naval hospital treated active duty military personnel and locals who could not afford the fees at the Schroeder Hospital. The naval hospital was destroyed in an earthquake in September 1902. A part of the Schroeder Hospital was used to treat active duty personnel until the naval hospital could be rebuilt. [4] [3]

Naval medical personnel staffed both the Schroeder Hospital and the Susana Hospital, a part of the Schroeder Hospital that treated women and children from 1905. An earthquake in December 1909 destroyed the Susana Hospital and the Federal government appropriated money for a replacement hospital, with the provision that it must be named U.S. Naval Hospital, Guam. [4] [3]

In August 1910, the land on which the Shroeder Hospital was located was ceded to the U.S. Federal government and a new Susana Hospital was built. The two hospitals collectively became U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. It became the only U.S. Naval Hospital with a ward for women and children. The first Navy nurses arrived in 1910 as well, starting a formal nursing school. In 1916, a tuberculosis ward was opened. [4] [3]

The interwar years were relatively quiet for the hospital. In 1940, Naval Base Guam's staff comprised nine doctors, one dentist, two pharmacists, five Navy nurses, 46 pharmacist's mates, seven hospital apprentices, and 14 CHamoru nurses. Among the doctors was Ramon Sablan, the first CHamoru doctor and composer of "Stand Ye Guamanians," the territory's anthem. [4] [3]

Adm. Walter Doran, Commander Pacific Fleet, inspects damage to Naval Hospital Guam from Typhoon Pongsona, 2002 US Navy 021213-N-7293M-042 inspecting damage incurred at the Naval Hospital from Super Typhoon Pongsona.jpg
Adm. Walter Doran, Commander Pacific Fleet, inspects damage to Naval Hospital Guam from Typhoon Pongsona, 2002

In December 1941, Guam was invaded by Japan and all hospital personnel were captured. The staff from the mainland U.S. were sent to the prisoner of war camp in Zentsūji, Japan, in January 1942. For the remainder of the Japanese occupation of Guam, Sablan and the 14 CHamoru nurses were almost the only providers of medical care to the local populace. The village of Hagåtña, including the hospital, was demolished by American naval bombardment during the liberation of Guam in August 1944. [4] [3] [5] [6]

After World War II

The annual dress whites inspection for hospital personnel, 2015 U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.JPG
The annual dress whites inspection for hospital personnel, 2015

For the remainder of the Pacific War, medical care to the 100,000 military personnel on Guam was provided by fleet hospitals made largely of Quonset huts. Meanwhile, Fleet Hospital 103 in Oka, Tamuning, was given responsibility for treating the local population. Guam Memorial Hospital was opened on the site of Fleet Hospital 103 in 1954. [7] By the late 1940s, Naval Hospital Guam had taken over care of military patients, but did not have a permanent home. [8] In 1954, Naval Hospital Guam was constructed at its current location in Agana Heights. [3] It served active duty personnel, dependents, military retirees, and veterans. [9]

In 1965, USNH Guam received its first American casualties from the Vietnam War. The number of daily patients being treated increased from about 100 to over 700 in 1968 and 1969. To handle the influx, the Navy renovated the former Asan Point Civil Service Community to handle 1,200 patients. It was reopened in 1968 as the self-contained Advanced Base Naval Hospital, also referred to as the Asan Annex. [9]

Planes transported patients four times a week from Da Nang to Andersen Air Force Base, with a brief stop at Clark Air Force Base. [3] As the Vietnam War drew to a close in 1973, the Annex was closed and Naval Base Guam returned to treating local military personnel, dependents, as well as acting as a Veterans Hospital and regional trauma center. [9]

U.S. Naval Hospital has responded to several emergencies since the Vietnam War. These include:

Education

In regards to the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), the naval hospital is in the school transportation zone for McCool Elementary and McCool Middle School, while Guam High School is the island's sole DoDEA high school. [11]

Non-DoDEA public schools are operated by the Guam Department of Education.

See also

Related Research Articles

The history of Guam starts with the early arrival around 2000 BC of Austronesian people known today as the Chamorro Peoples. The Chamorus then developed a "pre-contact" society, that was colonized by the Spanish in the 17th century. The present American rule of the island began with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Guam's history of colonialism is the longest among the Pacific islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Guam</span>

Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, at the boundary of the Philippine Sea. It is the southernmost and largest member of the Mariana Islands archipelago, which is itself the northernmost group of islands in Micronesia. The closest political entity is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), another U.S. territory. Guam shares maritime boundaries with CNMI to the north and the Federated States of Micronesia to the south. It is located approximately one quarter of the way from the Philippines to Hawaii. Its location and size make it strategically important. It is the only island with both a protected harbor and land for multiple airports between Asia and Hawaii, on an east–west axis, and between Papua New Guinea and Japan, on a north–south axis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stand Ye Guamanians</span> Regional anthem of Guam

Stand Ye Guamanians, officially known as the Guam Hymn, is the regional anthem of Guam. The original English lyrics and music were written and composed in 1919 by Ramon Manilisay Sablan. The lyrics were slightly modified by the U.S. government prior to official adoption in 1952. In 1974, Lagrimas Untalan translated the English lyrics into CHamoru, which were made official in 1989. The CHamoru version is more widely used today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagåtña, Guam</span> Capital city of Guam

Hagåtña, formerly Agana or Agaña, is a coastal village and the capital of the United States territory of Guam. From the 18th through mid-20th century, it was Guam's population center, but today, it is the second smallest of the island's 19 villages in both area and population. However, it remains one of the island's major commercial districts in addition to being the seat of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamorro people</span> Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands

The Chamorro people are the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia, a commonwealth of the US. Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several U.S. states, including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada, all of which together are designated as Pacific Islander Americans according to the U.S. Census. According to the 2000 Census, about 64,590 people of Chamorro ancestry live in Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piti, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

Piti is a village located on the central west coast of the United States territory of Guam. It contains northern and eastern coastlines of Apra Harbor, including Cabras Island, which has the commercial Port of Guam and the island's largest power plants. Piti was a pre-Spanish CHamoru village and, after Spanish colonization, became the primary port town on Guam. The town was largely destroyed during the 1944 liberation of Guam and the population relocated during the wartime construction of Apra Harbor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agana Heights, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

Agana Heights is one of the nineteen villages in the United States territory of Guam. It is located in the hills south of Hagåtña, in the central part of the island. United States Naval Hospital Guam is located in this largely residential village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Air Station Agana</span> Former United States Naval air station in Guam

Naval Air Station Agana is a former United States Naval air station located on the island of Guam. It was opened by the Japanese Navy in 1943 and closed by the United States government in 1995. During and after its closure, it was operated alongside Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport.

The Guam Department of Parks and Recreation operates public parks in Guam. The agency has its headquarters in Agana Heights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yigo, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guam Museum</span> Museum focusing on the history of Guam

The Guam Museum, formally the Senator Antonio M. Palomo Guam Museum & Chamorro Educational Facility, is a museum focusing on the history of Guam, a U.S. territory in Micronesia. A permanent building to house the museum's collection opened in Hagåtña on November 4, 2016. The Guam Museum had been housed in temporary locations since World War II.

The Chamorro Nation is a political movement seeking sovereignty for the island of Guam, founded by Angel Leon Guerrero Santos. The Chamorro Nation was formed on July 21, 1991, comprising numerous grassroots organizations which advocated for the protection of Chamorro land, culture, and political rights. As a political movement, the Chamorro Nation is recognized as a key turning point in changing Chamorro attitudes toward the United States and increasing the desire for Chamorro rights, particularly the return of lands seized from Chamorros by the US federal government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater diving in Guam</span> Recreational diving tourism destination

Underwater diving encompasses a variety of economically and culturally significant forms of diving on the U.S. island territory of Guam. Scuba diving tourism is a significant component of the island's tourist activity, in particular for visitors from Japan and South Korea. Recreational diving by Guam residents has a lesser but still substantial economic impact. Marine biologists have raised concerns about the effect of diving upon the health of some of Guam's reefs. Recreational dive sites on Guam include submerged shipwrecks, such as the double wrecks of SMS Cormoran and Tokai Maru, and natural features, such as Blue Hole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelup Point</span> Cape in Guam

Adelup Point is limestone promontory in Hagåtña, Guam that extends into the Philippine Sea and separates Asan Bay from Hagåtña Bay. It has been the site of the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor's Complex since 1990. Adelup is therefore a metonym for the Office of the Governor of Guam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberation Day (Guam)</span> Public holiday in Guam

Liberation Day on the U.S. territory of Guam is an annual commemoration of the invasion by U.S. military forces on July 21, 1944, which ended the Japanese occupation that had begun in 1941. Begun in 1945, it is Guam's largest celebration. Festivities include a queen contest, summer carnival, fireworks display, and mile-long parade on Marine Corps Drive in Hagåtña from Adelup to Paseo de Susana, as well as solemn memorials and visits to massacre sites. It is organized by the Guam Island Fair Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latte Stone Park</span> Urban park in Hagatna, Guam

Latte Stone Park, officially Senator Angel Leon Guerrero Santos Latte Stone Memorial Park, is an urban park in Hagåtña, Guam. Established in the 1950s and operated by the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation, it is best known for its set of eight historical latte stones, which were transferred from their original site in Fena. The Park is located along the cliffline below the Governor's residence in Agana Heights and south of the Plaza de España. It is often visited by sightseers visiting central Hagåtña. The park also includes the entrances to two sets of caves that were constructed during the Japanese occupation (1941–1944) by forced laborers and that were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as the Agana/Hagåtña Cliffline Fortifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asan, Guam</span> Census-designated place in Guam, United States

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Laura Maud Thompson was an American social anthropologist best known for her studies of CHamoru culture in Guam. She studied many cultures around the world, including many Native American nations, with the self-professed aim of "trying to build an integrated theory of human group behavior that was grounded in actual behavior and relied on rigorous methods of verification to ensure reliability." She was the recipient of the 1979 Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pago Bay</span>

Pago Bay is the largest bay on the U.S. territory of Guam, located at the mouth of Pago River on the island's eastern coast. There is extensive evidence of CHamoru settlement before Spanish colonization during the late seventeenth century. During the Spanish-Chamorro Wars, the Spanish transferred the populations of Tinian and Aguigan to the village of Pago. However, a smallpox epidemic in 1856 killed much of the village's population and the Spanish moved survivors to other villages, leaving the bay shoreline largely uninhabited. The bay is popular with fishermen and recreationalists, and was the site of new housing development in the 2000s.

An epidemic of smallpox in 1856 on the west Pacific island of Guam, then under the control of Spain, resulted in the death of over half of the population, or about 4,500 people. The population collapse led Spanish authorities to transfer the population of Pago to Hagåtña, ending a settlement dating back before colonization. It also led the Governor of the Spanish Mariana Islands to encourage immigration to Guam.

References

  1. ↑ Habib, Mai (23 June 2020). "Change of command at U.S. Naval Hospital". PNC News First. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Naval Hospital Guam. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hadley, Alice E. (1996). "A Brief History of the U.S. Naval Hospital, Guam 1899–2001". Guam Virtual Medical Library. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hadley, Alice (March 16, 2021). "US Naval Hospital 1899–1941". Guampedia. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ↑ "Medicine: Guam's Doctor". Time. 6 November 1944. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Saussote, Marguerite (March 7, 2021). "Dr. Ramon Manalisay Sablan". Guampedia.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Murphy, Connor (October 14, 2019). "Guam Memorial Hospital". Guampedia. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Facility 1 (Naval Hospital Guam) HABS GU-3" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey . p. 3. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hadley, Alice (October 11, 2019). "US Naval Hospital, Guam 1962-Present". Guampedia. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Correll, Diana Stancy (20 April 2020). "Air Force building medical facility in Guam to accommodate Roosevelt sailors with COVID-19". Air Force Times. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "DoDEA Guam School Boundaries and Bus Transportation Zones". Military Morale, Welfare and Recreation Guam. Retrieved 2023-07-07.

13°28′26″N144°44′16″E / 13.47401°N 144.73786°E / 13.47401; 144.73786

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