William Beaumont Army Medical Center

the US Army medical center in Texas

William Beaumont Army Medical Center is a Department of Defense medical facility located in Fort Bliss, Texas. It provides comprehensive care to all beneficiaries including active duty military, their family members, and retirees. The hospital is located in the Central/Northeastern part of El Paso, and provides emergency department services for Northeast El Paso. The current 1.1 million square foot, 6 building medical complex opened July 10, 2021, on East Fort Bliss. WBAMC is affiliated with the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine which is also located in El Paso, Texas. WBAMC is also a participating hospital for medical residents from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and nursing students from the University of Texas at El Paso School of Nursing and the El Paso Community College Nursing School.

The William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC), formerly the William Beaumont General Hospital (WBGH), is currently situated northwest of Fort Bliss' main cantonment area, between Fred Wilson Road and Hayes Avenue. The hospital had its beginnings in Fort Bliss during the 1850s. After several earlier moves, Fort Bliss moved to its permanent location at La Noria Mesa in 1893. The hospital is named for Army surgeon William Beaumont (1785–1853), the "Father of Gastric Physiology".

From its beginnings in 1849, the medical units that supported the Army installation in El Paso have moved several times. In January 1854, "The Post of El Paso del Norte", was established on Magoffin's Ranch. This installation at Magoffin's Ranch formally became known as Fort Bliss on 8 March 1854, in honor of Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss a veteran of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) who was cited for gallantry in action. In 1868, the Army installation was moved to Camp Concordia; back to downtown El Paso in 1878; to Hart's Mill in the 1880s; and finally to La Noria Mesa in 1893 on land donated by El Paso citizens. The La Noria Mesa site remains as the permanent station for Fort Bliss and its medical units. The Army used military labor to construct the post hospital at Hart's Mill, which was completed in December 1880.

Fort Bliss was directed to surrender to Confederate forces on 31 Mar 1861 after Texas withdrew from the Union, to include the garrison hospital. Fort Bliss and the hospital remained Confederate until 20 Aug 1862. This building, now known as Building 8, is currently the location of the Fort Bliss Inspector General's Office. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972.

During this period, the hospital supported a skeletal garrison at Fort Bliss, containing never more than 100 soldiers. It was not until 1902 and the end of the Philippine Insurrection that the hospital supported a full complement of troops at Fort Bliss. By 1902 the hospital, along with all the buildings on Fort Bliss, had fallen into disrepair. Lieutenant Colonel H. H. Adams, of the 18th Infantry Regiment, commanded the post in 1902 and reported the hospital steward's quarters needed "extensive repairs." On 1 December 1917, field hospital company 3 departed Fort Bliss, then sailed from Hoboken on 5 December, and arrived at Saint Nazaire on 22 December, among the last elements of the 1st Infantry Division to arrive in France and later the Western Front. The first Army dental training school was established at the Fort Bliss Post Hospital in September 1916 by Captain Robert T. Oliver. The dental school at the Fort Bliss Post Hospital served as a model for similar efforts in the mobilization camps after the April 6, 1917, declaration of war against Germany.

General Orders No. 40 of the War Department, June 26, 1920, stipulated that this new hospital at Fort Bliss be named after Major William Beaumont, one of the most famous surgeons of the "Old Army". William Beaumont General Hospital opened on July 1, 1921, and was completed in 1922. It originally consisted of 41 buildings and 403 beds, with an emergency reserve of 100 additional beds. The new hospital buildings were made of tile and stucco. The construction of WBGH's 48 buildings in 1920–21 signaled the beginning of Fort Bliss's role as a major military medical center. Over the next two decades, WBGH served as both Fort Bliss's station hospital and as a general hospital for the western portion of the Army's 8th Service Command. On staff were six medical officers, two nurses and 30 medical corpsmen. WBGH's original mission was to provide general medical care to border patrol troops stationed at Fort Bliss. By the 1930s, however, the hospital was serving the entire western portion of the Army's Eighth Corps area, providing health care to soldiers stationed at posts in Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas.

The Fisher House Foundation, which provides free lodging for military families with a hospitalized relative, operates a facility at WBAMC. It celebrated its 20th anniversary of operation on 22 February 2014.

The design of the WBAMC unit insignia symbolizes some of the highlights of WBAMC's namesake Dr. William Beaumont, Beaumont's patient Alexis St. Martin, the unit's medical tradition, and the unit's location in El Paso. The fleur de lis pointing north refers to Dr. Beaumont's assignment in 1820 to the Northern Michigan outpost of Fort Mackinac. The circular window at the center of the cross refers to Alexis St. Martin's stomach wound which never closed, presenting Beaumont with a window through which he could study the workings of the human stomach. The Maltese cross refers to the Knights Hospitallers of medieval times as a symbol of the medical profession. WBAMC's location in El Paso, Texas, is symbolized by the vertical arm of the cross passing between the mountains (in reference to the English translation of El Paso as "the pass") and terminating upon the blue wave which represents the Rio Grande. William O. Wooldridge, the first Sergeant Major of the Army was treated at WBAMC
Several of the Prisoners of War (POWs) from the 2003 invasion of Iraq were treated at WBAMC.

The El Paso VA Health Care System has a joint venture with William Beaumont Army Medical Center. This joint venture allows both activities to maximize resource utilization. Through the joint venture, VA purchases emergency department service and inpatient care for acute medical, psychiatric and surgical emergencies. The joint venture has led to unique agreements that have increased patient access in general surgery and vascular surgery.