Medical Center

From GWUEncyc

Article

The George Washington University Medical Center is comprised of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the University Hospital (including the Women’s Board, which was formed in 1898), and the University Clinic (Ambulatory Care Center).

The medical school was opened in 1825 and is the eleventh oldest in the nation. From 1868-1973 it was located at 1335 H Street, NW. In 1973 it moved to Walter G. Ross Hall and the Himmelfarb Medical Library. All aspects of the Medical Center - hospital, medical school, and research facilities - were centralized at last. The hospital had been located at 1335 H Street until 1948, when a new hospital was built on Washington Circle.

A new hospital was constructed in 2002 across the street from the old one. The University Clinic opened in 1969 on Pennsylvania Avenue and was expanded to house the Ambulatory Care Center in 1988.

In 1981 the Medical Center's staff made front-page news when President Reagan, shot at close range, was rushed to the GW emergency room. The fine service that saved the president's life was commemorated 10 years later by the establishment of the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine to train emergency system coordinators and pursue basic and clinical research in emergency medicine.

The Medical Center publishes Progress (1989-Present), which evolved from the Friday Report (1970-89), and GW Health and Medicine magazine (1965-Present). The Vice President for Health Affairs (which oversees the Medical Center) reports to the President.

See also: Medical Center Records/RG0007[1]

Document Information

Images: 1
Photographic Credit: GW University Historical Photographs Collection
Author or Source: University Archives subject files
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist

For more information about GW history

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