U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is raising concerns about reported plans to reduce services and cut staff at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center.
The cuts have not been announced, but Ossoff said in a statement that reported plans include closing inpatient, emergency room and operating room services. Patients would be forced to seek care from providers off post, putting a strain on local health care, he said.
Ossoff, a Democrat, is the target of MAGA Republicans in next year’s U.S. Senate election. He raised over $12 million in the third quarter toward keeping the seat and has focused heavily on guarding state military and veteran resources, including the Augusta VA Medical Center, against service reductions.
Eisenhower serves 30,000-40,000 active-duty and retired servicemembers, their families and Department of Defense civilians from around the CSRA. Eisenhower has about 60 inpatient beds, six operating rooms and approximately 80 medical residents enrolled in five graduate medical education programs.
“Any potential reductions in care at (Eisenhower) risks putting further strain on the Augusta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and surrounding hospitals in the region,” Ossoff wrote in a Monday letter to David J. Smith, acting director of the Defense Health Agency.
Ossoff also questioned if Naval Hospital Jacksonville and Naval Hospital Beaufort were on a list of facilities eyed for service reductions, the statement said.
His letter asked if DHA reviewed whether local medical facilities could absorb beneficiaries no longer served by Eisenhower, if DHA had spoken with leadership at major Augusta hospitals about taking them on and whether cuts would yield savings for the agency.
He also asked if medical residents have been notified their graduate education program would be closing, and whether plans are being made for their transfers to other programs.
Sen. Jon Ossoff letter to Acting Director David Smith by Susan McCord
