VA Medical Center to celebrate 90th Anniversary
PRESS RELEASE
June 4, 2013
Muskogee , OK — The Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center (JCMVAMC) will celebrate its 90th Anniversary on June 14 with a ceremony at 2 p.m. on the lawn of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, which is adjacent to the medical center.
The public is invited to attend the celebration which will include music by the Cherokee Youth Choir and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra's Brass Ensemble. Refreshments will be served following the ceremony.
At the close of World War I, when many states were awarding their Veterans’ bonuses, the State of Oklahoma decided to offer its Veterans a more lasting gift in the form of free medical care. The medical center was built by the state and subsequently leased to the federal government.
On Flag Day, June 14, 1923, the medical center, which was known at that time as Soldiers Memorial Hospital, was formally opened with an official ceremony. The first patient to be admitted was Eugene R. Lewis of Oklahoma City.
On March 6, 1925, the federal government purchased both the hospital and the adjacent Muskogee City hospital for $375,000. On Nov. 30, 2006, the medical center was renamed the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Jack C. Montgomery, a World War II Veteran and Cherokee Indian. JCMVAMC was the first VA medical center in the nation to be named after a Native American.