Naval Hospital Guam
Naval Hospital Guam
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Naval Hospital Guam

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Naval Hospital Guam

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.

Established in 1899 in the capital 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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