Brooke Army Medical Center

Description

About Us
Brooke Army Medical Center BAMC SAMMC at Fort Sam Houston San Antonio is part of the United States Army Medical Command It is a University of Texas Health Science Center and USUHS teaching hospital and contains the Army Burn Center BAMC has a history which dates back to 1879 when the first Post Hospital opened as a small medical dispensary located in a single story wooden building During the early years the Post hospital was in temporary structures and it was not until 1886 that the first permanent hospital was built In 1907 an 84bed Station hospital was constructed on the west side of the post

In 1929 Brigadier General Roger Brooke assumed command of the Station Hospital a position he held until 1933 Brooke is credited with instituting the first routine chest Xray in military medicine In July 1936 the cornerstone was laid for the construction of a replacement Station Hospital By November 1937 the new 418bed hospital was operational having cost 3 million dollars The new hospital was the first in a series of moves which changed Fort Sam Houston from an Infantry to a medical Post

In 1941 BAMC prepared for an overwhelming flow of casualties from World War II battlefields by converting a 220person enlisted barracks into additional patient wards This facility provided care to wounded soldiers and would later become BAMC Headquarters In 1942 the Station Hospital was renamed Brooke General Hospital in Brookes honor In 1944 BAMC converted a Cavalry Battalion barracks into a convalescent unit to accommodate the flow of casualties from the war This building later became Beach Pavilion Beach housed a substantial portion of BAMC assets to include patient wards and specialty clinics

In 1946 Fort Sam Houston was chosen as the new site for the US Army Medical Field Service School The decision to centralize the Armys medical research and training at one location resulted in the renaming of Brooke General Hospital to Brooke Army Medical Center In September 1987 the official groundbreaking took place for the construction of a new hospital

On July 18 1995 ownership of the replacement hospital was given to the BAMC Commander by the US Army Corps of Engineers during the key turnover ceremony On March 14 1996 the new facility was officially dedicated and on April 13 BAMC opened for business with the transfer of inpatients from the quotoldquot BAMC to the new BAMC

The hospital today is a 450bed JCAHOaccredited facility expandable to 653 beds in the event of a disaster Services include general medical and surgical care adult and pediatric primary care clinics 24hour Emergency department specialty clinics clinical services wellness and prevention services veterinary care and environmental health services

BAMC is a Level I trauma center the only one in the MEDCOM and is part of the Southern Regional Medical Command SRMC

History

History
1870 to 1875 City of San Antonio donates 92 acres 370000 m2 for an Army post

1879 temporary wooden board and batten not log 12bed hospital built

1886 permanent brick 12bed hospital built to replace the temporary one

1908 Station Hospital built to accommodate 84 beds

1910 two wings added to Station Hospital increasing its capacity by 68 beds

1912 an isolation ward and a maternity ward added to Station Hospital

1936 construction begins on new Station Hospital building on the site of the old Camp Travis Base Hospital

1938 new Station Hospital opens with a 418bed capacity

1941 to 1945 Station Hospital expands by converting barracks to hospital wards

1942 Station Hospital named Brooke General Hospital

1942 psychiatric ward built in Old Station Hospital area

1945 15th Field Artillery Barracks become Annex IV increasing capacity to 7800 beds

1946 the Medical Field Service School MFSS is moved to Fort Sam Houston The medical entities are reorganized and designated Brooke Army Medical Center BAMC

1959 Annex IV is designated Beach Pavilion

1959 psychiatric ward is designated Chambers Pavilion

1975 added to the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property of the Fort Sam Houston Historic District

1983 design authority issued for a facility to replace BAMCs 59 separate buildings

1985 concept design started for the new BAMC

1992 construction of new BAMC starts

1996 new BAMC opens

2001 added individually to the National Register of Historic Places

2005 BRAC 2005 recommends 172 Med 10 the realignment of inpatient services and related specialty care from Wilford Hall Medical Center WHMC to Brooke Army Medical Center BAMC creating the San Antonio Military Medical Center SAMMC