History

USS Tranquillity Branch Medical Clinic (Bldg. 1007) Recruit Training Command is the busiest clinic in the U.S. Navy and is staffed by nearly 150 active duty and civilian staff members. As one of three Branch Medical Clinics that are part of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, USS Tranquillity provides many services, including ship sick call, primary care, treatment room, sports medicine and rehabilitative therapy (SMART), special physicals, medical records and mental health/recruit evaluation unit (REU).

USS Tranquillity's Ship Sick Call Clinics treats approximately 31,000 patients each year, addressing needs that can be satisfied through basic treatment and over-the-counter medications. Primary Care Clinics provides care for nearly 48,000 patients each year for concerns such as upper respiratory infections, unspecified viral infections, pharyngitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, conjunctivitis, otitis media and dehydration.

The Treatment Room provides care for nearly 5,000 patients a year for the following services: serial blood pressure monitoring, various procedures, crutches, pulmonary-related procedures, and IM/SQ injections (immunizations). USS Tranquillity's SMART provides care for nearly 26,000 patients each year, and is responsible for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of any injury, acute or chronic, affecting the musculoskeletal system. SMART includes physical therapy, podiatry and chiropractic clinics.

USS Tranquillity sees over 6,000 Recruits and active duty each year for special duties qualifications, including nuclear field, submarine, naval aircrew, and diver-explosive ordinance device (EOD). Recruit Mental Health care at USS Tranquillity provides professional psychiatric and psychological assessments to nearly 19,000 Recruits each year. Lastly, they ensures that all recruit health records are complete prior to transfer, and are responsible for coordinating recruit consult appointments with the different specialty clinics at the Lovell FHCC.

As background on the namesake, USS Tranquillity was converted into a hospital ship and commissioned in April 1945, with a bed capacity of 802 and a complement of 568. USS Tranquillity began service as a base hospital at Ulithi and was dispatched in August 1945 to the Palau Island to receive the survivors from the USS Indianapolis and transport them to Guam. She was then assigned to assist the 3rd Fleet by returning 766 patients from Guam to the US. In September 1945, she was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet to return troops from overseas to the US and was designated APH-114. In March 1946, USS Tranquillity was decommissioned. She was struck from the Naval Register in September 1961. Tranquillity received one battle star from World War II service.

USS Osborne is named in honor of Lieutenant (JG) Weeden E. Osborne, a Navy Dentist, Medal of Honor recipient, and the first Naval Officer killed in land action in World War I. USS Osborne is one of four Branch Dental Clinics that are part of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center located in North Chicago, Illinois.

As part of the “Quarterdeck of the Navy,” the clinic provides a full spectrum of dental treatment to more than 40,000 enlisted recruits annually. The clinic mission is to make at least 95% of all recruits passing through the Recruit Training Command dentally qualified for world-wide deployment before they graduate from the Navy’s only “Boot Camp.”

75% of incoming recruits need some dental treatment during recruit training, and 60% require treatment that is more extensive than a simple cleaning. 20% of incoming recruits, or about 7,500 recruits per year, require extensive treatment such as removal of impacted wisdom teeth, root canals, multiple large fillings, crowns, and/or dentures, frequently calling for complex, multi-disciplinary treatment plans. In a normal year, this will require the delivery of the equivalent of more than $50 million worth of dental treatment.

Achieving the mission is accomplished by a highly skilled and dedicated staff 75 dentists, 11 dental hygienists, and 165 dental auxiliary personnel during the 7 weeks of recruit training.

Services provided include virtually all areas of dentistry, from simple cleanings through the removal of teeth under intravenous sedation and the delivery of over 500 Computer Assisted Designed and Manufactured ceramic crowns and onlays each year. There are more than 30 dentists devoted solely to providing fillings.

Named in honor of the U.S. Navy steamer that was in service from 1862 to 1865, USS Red Rover is one of four Branch Medical Clinics that are part of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center and is located in Great Lakes, Illinois.

As the “Gateway to the Navy,” the clinic processes more than 40,000 enlisted recruits annually. Each recruit is assigned to a division, and the divisions are processed as a unit, which can be as large as 100 recruits.

In-processing “tasks” are divided into 4 processing days called “P Days.” During these days, recruits receive a substantial number of vital medical and dental tasks, ensuring they are physically ready for their role in the U.S. Navy.

During P-1 and P-2, recruits are registered into VISTA, AHLTA and the Composite Health Care System (CHCS) and their initial medical record is created; they are given a Tuberculin Skin Test (TST), a blood draw, and their DNA cards are collected.

During P-3 and P-4, recruits receive male/female wellness counseling (female wellness exam and pregnancy counseling), an average of 6 immunizations, dental x-ray and exams, an optometry exam (same-day glasses) and a physician exam (for recruits with allergies, high body-mass index, physical activity issues and current complaints). Recruits return on their 5-2 day of training to receive an average of 3 final immunizations.

In 9 to 10 combined minutes, a recruit receives a dental exam, three x-rays and a forensics exam. This would typically average an hour outside of the training environment. In a year, USS Red Rover dental professionals have more than 164,000 patient encounters, more than 46,700 tooth extractions and just fewer than 81,000 routine dental restorations. In total, these procedures would equate to more than $72 million in community dental services.

Annually, the USS Red Rover produces nearly 20,000 glasses, administers 270,000 immunizations, provides approximately 10,000 gynecological exams, administers 40,000 hearing exams, and collects and examines 200,000 tubes of blood.

As background on the namesake, USS Red Rover was commissioned in December 1862 and was used during the Civil War as hospital ship for the Mississippi Squadron. Her medical complement included nurses from the Catholic order Sisters of the Holy Cross, the first female nurses to serve on board a Navy ship. In addition to caring for and transporting sick and wounded men, she provided medical supplies to Navy ships along the Western Rivers. USS Red Rover was stationed at Mound City, Ill., from December 1864 until November 1865, when she was decommissioned and sold.