The earliest hospital at Fort Knox Kentucky, was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

cantonment building, constructed in 1918 on the site of the Lindsey Golf Course. When the facility burned in 1928, medical services moved to the

guesthouse on Bullion Boulevard until a brick hospital was built in 1934 on E Street. In 1940, two mobilization hospitals were constructed along Dixie Street, and were used until the multi-storied concrete structure opened in 1957. Ireland Army Community Hospital closed January 2020. A replacement clinic (Ireland Army Health Center) opened nearby 21 January 2020. The hospital facility was named in honor of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Merritte W. Ireland, a surgeon and U.S. Army Surgeon General from October 30, 1918, to May 31, 1931. The hospital at 289 Ireland Avenue, Fort Knox, Ky was built in 1957. The hospital closed in 2020, with services moving to the adjacent Ireland Army Health Center (IRAHC), which opened 21 January 2020. The hospital was a , 76-bed

JCAHO The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majorit ...

-accredited facility. Major services included general medical and surgical care, adult and

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

primary care Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care ...

clinics, specialty clinics, clinical services, wellness and prevention services, and a VA clinic. Remote on-post clinics included the Aviation Medical Clinic, One Stop Medical, Nelson Troop Medical Clinic, Reception Medical Processing, and the RCF Clinic. Ireland Hospital was part of the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC). The activity is the center of a larger area of responsibility which serves an isolated active duty population in

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Off-post clinics in this six-state area include Bluegrass Army Depot, Camp Atterbury Troop Medical Clinic, Fort McCoy Troop Medical Clinic, Rock Island Health Clinic, and Selfridge Health Clinic. The hospital was slated to lose its inpatient facilities as a result of BRAC 2005, but was removed from the list when panel members raised concerns about the distance soldiers and their families would have to travel to receive inpatient medical care. Reorganizing in 2017, it transitioned from hospital to super clinic, losing its ER, inpatient and surgery services, yet maintaining specialty clinics and its family health clinics. The hospital facility is slated for demolition in 2021.

References

External links

Ireland Army Community Hospital

Fort Knox

Fort Knox Morale, Welfare, and Recreation
{{Coord, 37, 54, 02, N, 85, 56, 31, W, display=title Hospital buildings completed in 1934 Government buildings completed in 1934 Hospital buildings completed in 1957 Government buildings completed in 1957 Buildings and structures in Hardin County, Kentucky United States Army medical installations Military hospitals in the United States Hospitals established in 1957 Fort Knox 1934 establishments in Kentucky