MedNews #04-39
October 8, 2004
Article MN043904

Back to Index

Naval Medical Clinic Named After Former Physician Assistant

By: Rod Duren, Naval Hospital Pensacola Public Affairs

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Naval Hospital Pensacola’s branch medical clinic at Corry Station was officially renamed the Chief Warrant Officer Gary R. Schuetz Memorial Medical Clinic Oct. 1, honoring a former military and civilian physician assistant who served the clinic for 12 years.

This is the sixth branch medical clinic in the Navy to be named after a former service member. The dedication ceremony was held in the midst of debris-remnants caused by Hurricane Ivan, which devastated the naval air station and surrounding areas in mid-September.

“Four days after Hurricane Ivan, I told the skipper there was no way that this clinic could be saved … (since) the only lighting we had here was from sunlight shining through the roof,” said Capt. Tom McCoy, director of branch medical clinics for Naval Hospital Pensacola. “It is a testament to this staff, and its perseverance, that they were able to get this facility back up and operational.”

The clinic’s namesake, Schuetz, was an enthusiastic Pensacola community supporter, as well as a Navy hospital corpsman and physician assistant for 21 years. He also served as a civilian physician assistant at Branch Medical Clinic Corry Station for 12 years before his death in 2002.

Schuetz joined the Navy in 1969, coming straight from the wheat fields of Kansas, and did a tour in Vietnam in the early 1970s as a field Hospital Corpsman with the 5th Marines.

Schuetz’ widow, Ruby, and two children, Krystle and Nathan, assisted McCoy in unveiling the clinic’s new name.