Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), United States

About Us

Mission

Enable total force readiness and health, Ensure globally responsive premier healthcare teams that deliver high-quality care, while Empowering and caring for our People.

Vision

To be the pinnacle of readiness, training, & innovative healthcare. Anytime, Anywhere - Always!

Values

Integrity, Compassion and Empathy, Dignity and Respect, Collaboration and Teamwork, Committed to Excellence

Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, serves as the largest and most robust military healthcare organization within the Department of Defense (DOD)  providing safe, quality care to our military service members, their families, veterans and civilian emergency patients as the most robust and productive healthcare organization within the Military Health System (MHS).

Both inpatient and outpatient services are provided by approximately 8,500 staff members, including active duty military personnel from each of our uniformed services, federal civilian employees, contractors and volunteers.

Team BAMC is proud to provide compassionate, patient-centered care for more than 240,000 military beneficiaries living throughout the greater-San Antonio area. Each day, BAMC providers provide safe, quality, compassionate care for approximately 4,000 patients who visit BAMC or one of our six separate outpatient clinics including: Westover Medical Home, CPT Jennifer M. Moreno Primary Care Clinic, McWethy Troop Medical Clinic, Taylor Burk Clinic at Camp Bullis, the Schertz Medical Home, and the Corpus Christi Occupational Health Clinic.

BAMC’s Level I Trauma Center serves San Antonio and the surrounding region, caring for more than 4,000 military and civilian trauma patients and 80,000 emergency department visits annually. As the sole Level I Trauma Center within the Military Health System, it serves as the premier medical readiness training platform for both the Army and the Air Force.

Since 2001, BAMC has played a crucial role in the provision of care for combat casualties wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq. BAMC’s care continues to extend throughout the globe as military medical personnel deploy around the world.

Forty of the hospital’s beds are designated for the US Army Institute for Surgical Research (USAISR) Burn Center. The Burn Center – verified jointly by the American Burn Association (ABA) and the ACS-COT – serves alongside the Level I Trauma Center to provide emergency services for residents from 22 separate counties in South Texas.

Prominent on the hospital campus, and surrounded by four Fisher Houses, the four-story Center for the Intrepid (CFI) stands as a pre-eminent extremity injury rehabilitation center. Dedicated in 2007, the CFI advances rehabilitation and recovery for many our most severely injured combat casualties. Monumental advances in prosthetic care for amputees and functional restoration for patients undergoing limb salvage are among the hallmarks of the CFI.

Scholarship in Action is witnessed daily throughout the medical campus as fellows, residents, and trainees at all levels of medical education and training receive mentorship from an integrated clinical faculty. Graduate Medical Education is implemented through the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium (SAUSHEC), responsible for overseeing more than 30 ACGME-approved programs.

A Look at the Past

Military medicine in San Antonio 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 1908, an 84-bed Station Hospital was constructed on the west side of the post.

In 1929, Brig. Gen. Roger Brooke 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 1938, 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 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 220-person 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 Brooke's honor. In 1945, BAMC converted a field artillery barracks into a convalescent unit to accommodate the flow of casualties from the war. This building later became Beach Pavilion, which 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 U.S. Army Medical Field Service School. The decision to centralize the Army's 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.

On Dec. 8, 2008, a groundbreaking was held to recognize the commencement of 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) construction and renovation of BAMC to build the 760,000-square-foot consolidated tower, 1,800,000-square-foot parking garage, and 22,400-square-foot central Energy Plant and renovate approximately 288,000 square feet of the existing BAMC facility.

Sept. 15, 2011, the San Antonio Military Health System began operations. SAMHS is led by Army and Air Force general officers and is responsible for providing management and oversight of business, clinical, and educational functions of all Military Health System (MHS) medical treatment facilities (MTFs) located in the San Antonio metropolitan area.

Historical Dates

1870 to 1875 - City of San Antonio donates 92 acres (370,000 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.

1987 - 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).

2007 - The Center for the Intrepid opened its doors.

2008 - A groundbreaking was held to recognize the commencement of 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) construction and renovation of BAMC.

2010 - Fort Sam Houston Primary Care Clinic officially opened its doors and Camp Bullis Health Clinic was renamed Taylor Burk Clinic in remembrance of SPC Taylor J. Burk, a 21-year-old Army medic from Amarillo, Texas.

2011 - Schertz Medical Home opened its doors.

2011 - The new 760,000-square-foot Consolidated Tower opened its doors.

2015 - Fort Sam Houston Primary Care Clinic renamed CPT Jennifer M. Moreno Primary Care Clinic.

2015 - Westover Medical Home opened.

2017 - The Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine Clinic opened on the BAMC Campus.

2018 - Schertz Medical Home moved to new location.