Gorgas Hospital was a hospital in Panama City, Panama named for US Army general and physician William C. Gorgas. A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panamá), population 708,738, with a total metro population of 1,063,000 is the capital of Panama, located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, at . ... Major General William Crawford Gorgas (October 3, 1854, in Mobile, Alabama -- July 3, 1920, in London) was a United States physician and 22nd Surgeon General of the U.S. Army (1914-18). ...

Built on the site of a French hospital called "L'Hospital Notre Dame de Canal", it was originally called Ancon Hospital and later (1928) renamed Gorgas Hospital. It was originally built of wood, but was rebuilt in concrete in 1915 by Samuel Hitt.

The hospital is located on Ancon Hill. It was managed by the US Army for most of the 20th century but is now, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, in Panamanian hands. Since October of 1999, it has been home to the Instituto Oncologico Nacional, Panama's Ministry of Health and the Supreme Court. Ancon Hill is a steep 654-foot hill which overlooks Panama City, Panama. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Map of Panama, with Panama canal The Torrijos-Carter Treaties (sometimes referred to in the singular as the Torrijos-Carter Treaty), are a pair of treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D. C. on September 7, 1977, abrogating the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty signed in 1903. ... The National Oncologic Institute or ION (Spanish: Instituto Oncologico Nacional) is a specialized hospital for cancer treatment, located in Panama City, Panama. ...

History

Early history

During Operation Just Cause (1989)

During the Panama crisis which ultimately ended in the 1989 Panama Invasion (Operation "Just Cause") Gorgas Army Community Hospital, as it was then called, found itself regulalry in crisis. Bomb threats occurred several times a week and during one incident, Panamanian demonstrators occupied an empty parking lot nearby and threatened the facility. On October 3rd, 1989, a coup attempt by members of the Panama Defense Forces (PDF) to oust General Manuel Noriega led to a street fight which wound up occurring literally across the street from the Gorgas hospital complex.

Navy Lieutenant Roberto Paz, whose death at the hand of Panamanian paramilitaies (or possibly the PDF) ultimately led to the "Just Cause" invasion, was brought to Gorgas after being shot. PDF military police and regular PDF military forces began taking up threatening positions around the hospital shortly after Lt. Paz was brought in. A show of force by Military Police from the 534th MP Company caused the PDF to pull back.

On the night of the actual invasion, as US troops were attacking "La Commandancia" (PDF Headquarters) only a few blocks away, the Gorgas complex was attacked directly by a small group of Panama Defense Forces (PDF) troops who were attempting to take hostages. This attack was repelled by Military Police on site, who were later reinforced by MPs from the 511th MP Company (Ft. Drum, New York) and Infantry from the 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry, 5th Infantry Division (Fort Polk, Louisiana). For several days, the hospital came under random fire from shootouts in Panama City, as well as deliberate sniper attacks and at least one mortar attack. Although military invasion plans had not accounted for its use, Gorgas became a default location for the collection of US, PDF, and civilian wounded. The first American casualty of Operation: Just Cause, Corporal Ivan Perez of the 4th Infantry Division, was brought to Gorgas via civilian ambulance after being mortally wounded in Quarry Heights.

Transfer to Panamanian control

External links

• A Gorgas Hospital Photo Gallery