William Beaumont Army Medical Center is one of America’s largest and most complex health care institutions, and the world’s preeminent military health care delivery operation. Our MHS saves lives on the battlefield, combats infectious disease around the world, and cares for 9.5 million beneficiaries in one of the nation’s largest health benefit plans. The William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC), formerly the William Beaumont General Hospital (WBGH), is currently situated northwest of Fort Bliss' main cantonment area, between Fred Wilson Road and Hayes Avenue. The hospital has its beginnings in Fort Bliss during the 1850s. After several earlier moves, Fort Bliss moved to its permanent location at La Noria Mesa in 1893. The hospital is named for Army surgeon William Beaumont[11] (1785–1853), the "Father of Gastric Physiology". In 1969, the Army began construction of a new, 12-story hospital to the west of the WBGH area. Completed in 1972, the new facility became known as the William Beaumont Army Medical Center. The building is in the modernism architectural style, with a 124 ft tower. Although originally designed for 611 beds, by the early 1980s the hospital had a capacity of 463. The Omar N. Bradley building, an addition to the west-side of the main hospital, was opened in 1982; it provides an additional 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) of clinical and administrative space. Today, the hospital has a bed capacity for more than 150 patients; during contingencies, the hospital can expand for 373 patients. As the Southwest's major regional Army medical center, this modern facility now provides medical care to active and retired military personnel and their dependents in the three-state region of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Located in Ft. Bliss, Texas, in El Paso, Texas
