Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC - SAMMC) at
Fort Sam HoustonFort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the first President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston....
, San Antonio is part of the
United States Army Medical CommandThe U.S. Army Medical Command is a major command of the U.S. Army that provides command and control of the Army's fixed-facility medical, dental, and veterinary treatment facilities, providing preventive care, medical research and development and training institutions.MEDCOM is commanded by the...
. It is a University of Texas Health Science Center and USUHS teaching hospital and contains the Army Burn Center.
The hospital today is a 450-bed Joint Commission-accredited facility, expandable to 653 beds in the event of a disaster. Services include general medical and surgical care, adult and
pediatricPediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
primary carePrimary care is the term for the health services by providers who act as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system...
clinics, 24-hour
Emergency departmentAn emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
, 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
MEDCOMThe U.S. Army Medical Command is a major command of the U.S. Army that provides command and control of the Army's fixed-facility medical, dental, and veterinary treatment facilities, providing preventive care, medical research and development and training institutions.MEDCOM is commanded by the...
, and is part of the Southern Regional Medican Command.
History
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 84-bed Station hospital was constructed on the west side of the post.
In 1929,
Brigadier GeneralA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Roger BrookeBrigadier General Roger Brooke, M.D. was a surgeon and U.S. Army medical corps officer. Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, is named for him.-Biography:...
assumed command of the Station Hospital, a position he held until 1933. Brooke is credited with instituting the first routine chest X-ray in military medicine. In July 1936, the cornerstone was laid for the construction of a replacement Station Hospital. By November 1937, the new 418-bed hospital was operational, having cost $3 million dollars. The new hospital was the first in a series of moves which changed
Fort Sam HoustonFort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the first President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston....
from an
InfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
to a medical
PostA military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
.
In 1941, BAMC prepared for an overwhelming flow of casualties from
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
battlefields by converting a 220-person enlisted
barracksBarracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
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 Brooke's 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 HoustonFort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the first President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston....
was chosen as the new site for the U.S. Army Medical Field Service School. The decision to centralize the
Army'sThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
medical research and training at one location resulted in the re-naming 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 U.S. 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 "old" BAMC to the "new" BAMC.
Timeline
- 1870 to 1875 - City of San Antonio donates 92 acres (372,311.1 m²) for an Army post.
- 1879 - temporary wooden (board and batten, not log) 12-bed hospital built.
- 1886 - permanent, brick 12-bed 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 418-bed 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 7,800 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 BAMC's 59 separate buildings.
- 1985 - concept design started for the new BAMC.
- 1990 - "Les Enfants Terribles" project
- 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).
SAMMC (BAMC) Concept
Under
BRAC 2005The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It is the fifth Base Realignment and Closure proposal generated since the process was created in 1988. It recommends closing 33 major United States military bases and...
, BAMC will expand its inpatient services as those services are relocated from the 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Hall Medical Center (USAF). The Nuclear Medicine service is one of the first to completely integrate operations, and offers PET/CT, SPECT/CT, and other molecular imaging and therapy services.
To accomplish the realignment of inpatient services and related specialty care from Wilford Hall Medical Center (WHMC) to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) as presented in the BRAC 2005 scenario, BAMC will undergo the construction of a consolidated tower, a parking facility, a central energy plant, and renovations within the existing facility.
Consolidated Tower (CoTo)
Construction began in March 2009 on the nearly 738000 sq ft (68,562.4 m²). CoTo on the east side of the facility adjacent to the clinical building and medical mall. This addition will house administrative space, an Outpatient Pediatrics clinic, an expanded Emergency and Trauma department, SICU, CCU and Psychiatric nursing units, as well as an expansion of the USAISR Burn Unit. SAMMC will serve as a health science center for inpatient and ambulatory care, consisting of Graduate Medical Education (GME) & training, a Level 1 Trauma Center, and the only American Burn Association verified Burn Center within the DoD.
Parking Garage
Construction began in March 2009 on a multi-level, 5,000 space parking structure to accommodate the increased capacity at the upgraded medical facility. There has yet to be made any plans to improve surface streets or traffic lights to accommodate for the nearly doubling of staff driving into BAMC daily, resulting in an average of 30 minute wait times outside the gates during peak commuting times.
Central Energy Plant
Due to the size increase in the BAMC facility, additional heating and cooling capacities are being provided with a 22400 square feet (2,081 m²) central energy plant, which is under construction.
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