Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
- Belong Dickinson
- Dec 2
- 3 min read
Caring for those who served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors since 1950
The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is the most rural VA in the nation, with about 96% of its 22,000 Veterans defined as living in rural or highly rural areas. OGJVAMC has a large geographic patient area, encompassing fifteen Michigan counties and nine counties in northeastern Wisconsin, over 26,000 square miles.
About the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center (OGJVAMC) is located in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The facility oversees eight Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) located in Gladstone, Hancock, Ironwood, Manistique, Marquette, Menominee and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan, and Rhinelander in Wisconsin.
The facility was named to honor a local WWII Veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, Mr. Oscar G. Johnson, a native of Foster City, Michigan, who was honored for singlehandedly repelling six major counterattacks in the mountains of Italy in 1944.
OGJVAMC is a primary and secondary level care facility with acute care, general medicine beds and a surgical department with basic ambulatory surgery designation. The medical center also provides rehabilitation and extended care, including palliative and hospice care, in its 40-bed Community Living Center (CLC). The services provided by the CLC include extended care and short-term rehabilitation, geriatric care, general nursing home care, short-term wound care, and hospice/palliative care. The main facility also offers Urgent Care Monday through Friday, including holidays.
For higher-level emergency and critical care cases, OGJVAMC coordinates care with hospitals in both the local community and at larger VA medical centers that have the capability and expertise to serve Veterans.
Careers at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
OGJVAMC employs approximately 800 staff at its main facility and community-based outreach clinics. Approximately 22% of its employees are Veterans. The facility is one of the largest employers in Dickinson County, Michigan.
Its employees provide excellent care and exceptional experience to Veterans. Its patient satisfaction scores for inpatient, primary care, and specialty care are consistently higher than the national and Level 3 facility averages. The CLC has maintained an overall 5-Star rating for four consecutive years. The overall facility trust score is 95.9%, ranking it #5 in the nation.
As a testament to its dedication, OGJVAMC is the only VA medical center to be awarded a VHA Best Patient Experience Award six consecutive years, every year since the award's inception. Three-time VHA Best in Overall Experience in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Two-time VHA Best in Overall Experience Level 3 in 2021 and 2023, and the Own the Moment Patient Experience Award in 2024.
OGJVAMC provides ambulatory and acute health care including audiology, cardiac rehabilitation, diabetes, dentistry, geriatrics and extended care, general medicine, whole health (chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, wellness, yoga, tai chi, health coaching, aromatherapy, biofeedback), home-based primary care, mental health, nutrition, oncology, optometry, orthopedics, Hepatitis C, pain management, palliative/hospice, physical and occupational therapy, prosthetics, podiatry, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychiatry, radiology, speech, spinal cord injury (SCI), substance abuse, surgery, cardiology, neurology, urology, gynecology, weight management, and women’s wellness.
In addition, there are 250 active volunteers at the facility, including 125 DAV volunteer drivers to help transport patients to and from appointments.
Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in the Community
The OSGJVAMC collaborates as a key member in the Upper Peninsula Veterans Community Action Team partnering with MI Veterans Affairs Agency, Wisconsin Dept of Veterans Affairs, VSOs and local organizations in keeping with outreach and engagement priorities. Iron Mountain VA leadership also attends the monthly meeting of the local County Veterans Council.
OGJVAMC has active affiliations for Allied Health Professions such as Nursing, Optometry, Medical Laboratory Scientist, Chiropractic, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Social Work, Audiology and Dietetics. It has grown its residency program and is currently offering Graduate Medical rotations for family Medicine in our Marquette CBOC. Its Pharmacy PGY1 program was launched in 2022 with 2 PGY1 residents accepting permanent positions at the facility. In the fall of 2024, the Medical College of Wisconsin joined for a clerkship.