Page 118 - lake-city-florida-a-sesquicentennial-tribute-(h-morris-williams-kevin-mccarthy)-2009

Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy

U.S. Public Service Hospital Number 63

In the late part of that decade, Columbia College, a Baptist
school located on the former site of the Florida Agricultural College
(FAC), merged with Stetson
University in DeLand, Florida,
and left town. During World
War I, the site became a training
area for troops, and then - after
the war - was used to muster
out troops. That facility then
became U.S. Hospital No. 63
(pictured to the left), the
predecessor of the Veterans
Hospital, which still exists and
serves the community.

However, according
to an article in the Lake City
Reporter titled “Lake City
almost lost its VA Medical
Center” after Columbia College
closed in 1917, the federal
government had plans for using the college buildings and property for
what was termed a “recuperating hospital” for wounded veterans
returning from World War I. Dr. Cox, Florida state health officer,
objected, stating that malaria and mosquitoes were rampant in Lake
City and that the hospital should be located in Tampa.
A delegation from Lake City that included Gordon Brown,
Dr. Montgomery Prest of Columbia College, G.O. Palmer, and
Major A.B. Small, went to Washington, met with the U.S. Surgeon
General, and showed him that the malarial death rate in Lake City
(four per 1,000) was much better than that of Tampa (twelve per
1,000). The federal government then awarded Lake City the hospital,
the predecessor of today’s Lake City VA Medical Center, which still
serves veterans in south Georgia and north Florida. 34

114

www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 7C3282B3-DDE1-49C3-985A-3A9C9467368D