The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, a 300-bed hospital, is based at Fort Gordon, near Augusta, Ga., and serves as the headquarters of the Army's Southeast Regional Medical Command. SERMC oversees the Army's hospitals and clinics within the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.
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 Fort Gordon during the Cold War. The hospital's current building, dedicated in honor of former General of the Army and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, opened for patients in 1976.
Today the facility not only treats active duty personnel and their Tricare beneficiaries, and military retirees, but it is also involved in the growing field of disaster medicine. The center hosts disaster-drill training events on Fort Gordon involving the civilian medical community and the local region of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The facility is also is a training hospital for military physicians, and partners with the Medical College of Georgia and Augusta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in training programs and patient care.
Area Highlights Include:
- Augusta is the home of the the Augusta National Golf Club where President Eisenhower frequented played golf –it is also the home of The Masters Tournament.
- Riverwalk is an integral part of the downtown Augusta revitalization project and parellels the Savannah River. It is surrounded by shops, restaurants, pubs, hotels, and historic sites, and host festivals, concerts, sporting events and holiday celebrations
- The only museum in the United States dedicated to one of the greatest movie comedy teams in history—Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy—is located just outside of Augusta. Oliver Hardy was born in Harlem, Ga.
- President Woodrow Wilson lived in Augusta during his childhood. His boyhood home has been fully restored and is open to the public.
