Dr. Fred Albee & U.S. General Hospital No. 3

Dr. Fred Albee and U.S. General Hospital No. 3. . , The world’s first orthopedic hospital was established in Colonia in 1918 by surgeon Fred Houdlett Albee (1876-1945), a 20th-century medical pioneer whose discoveries still benefit millions today. A native of Maine, De. Albee earned his M.D. from Harvard University Medical School in 1903 and three years later performed his first successful bone-grafting operation. In 1911, he discovered a method for using bone instead of metal to perform a spinal fusion; in 1912, he invented the “Albee Bone Mill,” a machine that reduced the time needed for a bone graft to as little as 10 minutes., During World War I, Dr. Albee served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, employing advanced surgical techniques in countless amputations at field hospitals in France. He returned to the U.S. to open United States General Hospital No. 3 on land owned by Charles Freeman along New Dover Road. The hospital consisted of 110 buildings on 200 acres, constructed in two months at a cost of $3.5 million. The facility included 18 wards, 5 mess halls and kitchens, a 50’ x 100’ swimming pool, fire department, telephone exchange with 20 extensions and a half million dollar central heating plant that consumed 65 tons of coal daily., As Organizing Director and Chief Surgeon, Dr. Albee implemented a holistic program for physical, psychological and occupational rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Of the 6,000 soldiers treated, only 17 deaths occurred. After the hospital closed in 1919, Dr. Albee lobbied for creation of the New Jersey Commission for Rehabilitation and served as chairman for 28 years. In 1939, he was awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Cross; in 1943, he published his autobiography, A Surgeon’s Fight to Rebuild Men., More information visit www.wthpc.org , Woodbridge Township Historic Preservation Commission , Mayor John E. McCormac Woodbridge Township 2013