Post Hospital

Post Hospital. Fort George G. Meade. When Camp Meade was established in 1917, a detachment of the Medical Department of the Army was one of the first organizations to report for duty. The original hospital occupied a large group of frame buildings in the northwest area of the camp (near the present site of Argonne Hills Housing Area), and moved twice during the 1920's, always into World War I era wooden facilities., In June 1930, building 4411 (behind this marker) was completed, and all medical operations moved here. This was a modern hospital with four wards and enough private rooms for 100 patients. It housed an operating room, X-ray room, pathology laboratory, dental office and general laboratory. The semi-circular drive led to the ambulance entrance in the basement, which was connected to the upper floors via an electric elevator. A separate wing of the building held dormitories for the enlisted men of the Department as well as their recreation room, mess hall and kitchen., The hospital was located in the central portion of the post. This was a departure from past practices where hospitals were located on the outskirts in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. Occupying an irregular "T" footprint, the walls rise three stories from a raised basement, terminating with a hipped and gabled roof. On the outside, the basement and first floor are defined by a limestone belt course. The primary entry is marked by a flat-roofed portico that arches over the building's sunken, semi-circular access drive., Immediately west of the hospital is building 4415, Kuhn Hall, which was constructed in 1931 as a nurses' quarters. Also constructed in 1931 was building 4413, a brick garage for storing and maintaining ambulances., This plaque erected in 1997 by the Fort George G. Meade Museum. . This historical marker was erected in 1997 by Fort George G. Meade Museum. It is in Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County Maryland