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Medical Services

The Academy Clinic provides primary medical and dental care for all cadets. The Clinic responds to acute illness and injury around the clock and maintains the following facilities:

Outpatient Department
Dental Clinic
Pharmacy
Physical Therapy Department
Ancillary Services such as Radiology
Lab

Immunizations: Please get all your shots up to date, e-mail your completed Immunization Record Form as soon as possible to SMB-CGA-Clinic-Immunizations@uscg.mil, and bring a copy with you to Day One.

Dental: Have a thorough exam and complete treatment, including extraction of wisdom teeth if recommended by your dentist, by June 1st to allow for a full recovery. If you have significant dental history such as cleft palate repair, orthognathic surgery, or oral facial trauma, submit these records. Finally, e-mail your completed Dental Health Questionnaire as soon as possible to SMB-CGA-Clinic-Immunizations@uscg.mil and bring a copy with you to Day One.

Contact Lenses: During your first week at the Academy you will have to use glasses until a vision exam is given. Bring two pairs of glasses when you report, for backup, plus a supply of contact lenses.

Insurance

Once sworn in, your primary insurance will be Tricare, through the Coast Guard. If you have private insurance, it will serve as a secondary form of coverage. Please note the following important points:

Only the Academy Clinic can make referral appointments for you. Cadets cannot obtain non-emergency medical care at home or elsewhere without prior authorization.
If you are currently covered by Tricare as a dependent, your coverage status will be updated to reflect your active duty status. If you leave the Academy before commissioning, parents can reinstate your previous status as an eligible dependent.
Keeping private insurance coverage for the duration of your enrollment is recommended, so you do not experience a lapse in coverage should you depart the Academy for any reason prior to graduation.

Sponsor Family Application

Thank you for submitting your application to be part of the Sponsor Family Program. Your application will be processed in the upcoming week. Coast Guard Academy’s policy on background screening now requires all adults (everyone 18 and older living in the home) who volunteer to mentor, teach, coach or sponsor cadets, whether on or off Coast Guard Academy grounds, to be screened every 5 years. They are required to provide personal information (name, birth date and social security number) for the purpose of conducting a criminal background check.

The Security Officer at the Coast Guard Academy, CWO2 Gina Polkowski, is overseeing this process. Her email is: Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.

Sponsor Family designations fall into several different categories. Below are the guidelines to help you determine how best to meet the background screening requirement:

If you are Coast Guard active duty you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are a Civilian working for the Coast Guard you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are non-Coast Guard Active Duty, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
If you are non-Coast Guard civilian who has a current security clearance or National Agency check, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
All civilians in the families who are 18 years or older and do not have a security clearance or a National Agency Check are required to be vetted through Mind Your Business, the third party vendor hired by the Coast Guard Academy for the vetting process.

After you complete your application, please e-mail the Sponsor Family Program Coordinator at CadetFamilySponsorProgram@uscga.edu. In your e-mail, you must include the e-mail address and phone number of every adult living in the home. The Sponsor Family Coordinator will then initiate the background check process and you will receive an email with further instructions.

Important things to note:

There is a Sponsor Family Training that is a one-hour training which we ask sponsors to attend once every four years. This training is designed to give you an overview of the program, what is expected of you as a sponsor, and what you can expect from your cadets. This training will also help familiarize you with the cadet regulations onboard CGA. You will be notified via e-mail once the training is scheduled.

The matching process of swabs to families will occur during July and August. Please bear with us and remain flexible through this process. There will be a meet and greet scheduled on Campus, typically in late August. This will give families an opportunity to formally meet their cadet if they have not already done so. Details on this will also be via email.