Fort Bayard Medical Center

Fort Bayard Medical Center41 Fort Bayard Road, PO Box 293Santa Clara, NM 88026

575-537-3302 (Phone)800-541-6966 (Toll-Free)

Fort Bayard Medical Center (FBMC) is a licensed and certified, 200-bed, long-term Intermediate and skilled care facility. FBMC also offers chemical dependency treatment at Yucca Lodge Chemical Dependency Treatment Center.

Fort Bayard State Veterans Home (FBSVH) is a licensed and certified, 40-bed neighborhood specific for honorably discharged veterans with 90 days or more of service and their spouses as well as Gold Star Parents, who have lost children in the service of their country.

We accept Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and private pay for services. We provide services to every person who is medically eligible.

Fort Bayard Medical Center/State Veterans’ Home rises to health care challenges by striving to be a leader in our community and providing a wellness way of life with quality, efficiency, compassion, and empathy for the residents entrusted to our care.

To foster healing and health for the residents and community we serve. Excellence in the provision of health care services to our residents and their families and the community we serve.

Fort Bayard Medical Center/State Veterans’ Home will be known for:

Fort Bayard Medical Center provides care for people who have a medical need and who can no longer provide care for themselves. Our residents at FBMC are people with acute and chronic diagnosis such as behavioral problems, organic brain problems, personality disorders, diabetes, heart problems, cerebral vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and atherosclerotic cardio-vascular disease.

FBMC also offers skilled care to people who need rehabilitative services or a higher degree of medical care.

In addition to full nursing care and in-house physicians, Fort Bayard Medical Center also offers social services, activity therapy, physical, occupational, speech/language and restorative care therapies, case management, laboratory services, pharmacy, and transportation services.

Fort Bayard Medical Center/State Veterans’ Home is located right next to the site of an Army cavalry post in the southwestern foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains of New Mexico. Our visitors travel on US 180 and find us 8 miles east of Silver City, New Mexico.

To ensure that the admission of a referred individual is processed smoothly and efficiently, please see that the Fort Bayard Required Information for Admission is obtained from the referring hospital, nursing home or attending physician and provided to Fort Bayard Medical Center before the arrival or admission of an individual.

NOTE: If we do not receive all required information, the admission process will be delayed until the required information has been received.

Fort Bayard was established in 1866. The fort served as home to Indian scouts and Buffalo Soldiers and played a key role during the Apache Wars. The post was decommissioned in 1900, but Army Surgeon General George M. Sternberg, noting the good health enjoyed by Fort Bayard troops, successfully worked to maintain the post as an Army hospital – primarily for tuberculosis patients.

In 1922 the fort was transferred to the Veterans’ Administration and became US Veterans’ Hospital No. 55. An explosion in support for veterans, led by such groups as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, led to the modernization of facilities in the early ‘20s. Later, a nine-hole golf course with fairways made of native grasses was installed for veterans and TB patients’ diversion.

During the 1930s, many Civilian Conservation Corps boys were brought to the hospital to be treated for minor afflictions. Fort Bayard gained new buildings and landscaping as part of New Deal work relief projects. With the exception of four relatively minor contemporary buildings, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects would complete the built environment and cultural landscape that characterizes much of the historic district today.

Between 1943 and 1945, while treatment for TB continued, as many as 100 German prisoners of war were brought to the fort from the large POW camp near Lordsburg. Housed in a building north of the hospital and guarded by two platoons of soldiers, they were assigned jobs that were left vacant by men who had been called to duty overseas.

With the discovery of streptomycin in 1944 and eventually other drugs that treated tuberculosis, sanatoriums became medical anachronisms. Fort Bayard continued to serve veterans until the VA decided to close it in 1965. In part because of concerns of the local communities that depended on the hospital for employment, the State of New Mexico assumed responsibility for the facility and 484 acres of the former military reservation.

Fort Bayard Medical Center is now licensed and certified as a 200-bed long-term care nursing facility. Yucca Lodge, an 18-bed chemical dependency treatment center located on the campus, just celebrated its 32nd anniversary. Services include in-patient and out-patient programs.

Fort Bayard Cemetery became part of the National Cemetery system and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 2002.

In 2005, Fort Bayard Hospital was renamed the Fort Bayard Medical Center by statute.

The old fort’s long history as a health facility is coming to an end. The Department gained $60 million to build a new facility basically across the street from the old one. It will be one story, eliminating the need for staff and residents to use elevators. The new building also will include a safer outdoor area for residents, X-ray rooms, dental clinic, meditation room, salon/spa, library, computer lab and training rooms. The new building will also have a separate wing for residents with Alzheimer’s.

The new facility is being paid for by bonds issued by Grant County. Grant County is working with the Department of Health, Jaynes Corporation and the New Mexico General Services Department on the design and construction of the new building.

A New Era has begun! The New FBMC/FBSVH facility is up and running as of November 1st 2010! Check our Photos page for the new facility and check our News and Updates page for all the current news!

For more information on the original Fort Bayard's past and future, please visit the Fort Bayard Historical Preservation Society website.

Primary Focus of the Provider

• Substance Abuse Treatment Services

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Type of Care

• Substance abuse treatment
• Do not use medication for opioid addiction

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Facility Type

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Treatment Approaches

• Cognitive/behavioral therapy
• Substance abuse counseling approach
• Trauma-related counseling
• Rational emotive behavioral therapy

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Facility Smoking Policy

• Smoking permitted in designated area

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Service Setting (e.g., Outpatient, Residential, etc.)

• Residential
• Long-term residential

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Facility Operation (e.g. Private, Public)

• State Government
• State department of health

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Payment/Insurance Accepted

• Cash or self-payment
• Federal, or any government funding for substance abuse programs

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Emergency Mental Health Services

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Payment Assistance Available

• Sliding fee scale (fee is based on income and other factors)

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Language Services

• Spanish

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Special Programs/Groups Offered

• Persons with co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) clients
• Veterans
• Military families
• Clients referred from the court/judicial system
• Seniors or older adults
• Pregnant/postpartum women
• Adult women
• Adult men
• Persons with HIV or AIDS
• Persons who have experienced trauma
• Persons who have experienced sexual abuse
• Persons who have experienced intimate partner violence, domestic violence

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Ancillary Services

• Treatment for gambling disorder
• Individual counseling offered
• Group counseling offered
• 12-step faciltitation approach
• Brief intervention approach
• Contingency management/motivational incentive
• Motivational interviewing

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Age Groups Accepted

• Young adults
• Adults

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Gender Accepted

• Female
• Male

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Exclusive Services

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