Two U.S. senators are reaching across the aisle to help prevent Fort Gordon's hospital from reducing services to Augusta-area soldiers, veterans and military families.
U.S. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina have introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to keep inpatient services at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center.
In May, the Defense Health Agency announced a proposed reduction in care options at the hospital, specifically, eliminating general inpatient hospital beds and turning its emergency room into an urgent care facility.The hospital serves between 30,000 and 40,000 service members,
veterans, and their families.
"Fort Gordon military personnel and their families deserve the best care possible. That’s why I’m working across the aisle to stop this shortsighted closure," Warnock said in prepared remarks. "The Defense Health Agency needs to reconsider its proposal and ensure that our military heroes and their families can still get adequate and top-notch medical care at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center."
"Our men and women in uniform have earned the highest quality of care our nation can provide," Scott said in a statement. "Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon should remain open so South Carolina’s service members, military families and veterans continue to have access to timely, quality health care. Those who make tremendous sacrifices to defend our freedoms should not have to worry about whether they or their families can get the care they need. We owe them nothing less."
Since the DHA introduced its proposal, Warnock and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia have demanded answers about the plan from DHA Director Vice Adm. Darin K. Via.
In an Aug. 4 letter to the Department of War and the DHA, the senators called the potential changes “unacceptable” and requested the data, cost estimates and local input used to determine that civilian hospitals could absorb the added demand. They also questioned why Naval Hospital Jacksonville was removed from a later list of facilities facing a possible end to inpatient care.
Before the NDAA bill cleared the U.S. House of Representatives in July, Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, whose District 12 includes the Augusta area, included provisions in the House version to reverse the plans for Eisenhower.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Fort Gordon hospital fight aims to protect care for military families
