First Post Hospitals

First Post Hospitals. Fort Bliss Main Post Historic District. The five brick buildings in this area are the post's first two hospitals. The first, Building 8, was constructed in 1893. Both floors were originally encircled by a wood verandah. A covered walkay extended to adjacent Building 9, an isolation ward and later morgue. High ceilings, well-ventilated rooms, and sunny porches were the areas answer, but no cure, for tuberculosis, the ailment most treated here., A new hospital, Building 1, was constructed in 1904. The two-story structure closely adhered to plans issued by the Surgeon General in 1867. These called for a central administrative block, flanking 48-bed wards, a rear kitchen wing, and wrap-around porches since demolished. A third floor was added in 1916., Building 4, the isolation ward, was constructed in 1914, and a nearby ambulance garage, Building 5, soon after. In an era before air conditioning, when epidemics could kill tens of thousands of Americans, physical quarantine offered a measure of control., In 1916 this 200-bed complex was designated the principal medical facility supporting the Punitive Expedition. A number of wood buildings were added to cope with the influx of patients during World War I., As these buildings became overcrowded, unsanitary, and dilapidated, the Surgeon General lobbied for new facilities. The result was a 414-bed hospital complex of 48 buildings northwest of the main post. It opened in 1921 as William Beaumont General Hospital, honoring the surgeon and Army medical officer who was the first American physiologist to make enduring contributions to that science.