The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, also known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, is considered the flagship of the United States Navy's system of medical centers.

In 1938, Congress appropriated funds for the acquisition of land for the construction of a new Naval medical center, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the present site in Bethesda, Maryland, on July 5, 1938. When President Roosevelt saw the spring_fed pond on the land, it reminded him of the Biblical "Pool of Bethesda", a place of healing and renewal, and felt it would be a perfect spot for the medical center. The surrounding area had already been commonly called "Bethesda" after the Bethesda Presbyterian Church (built 1820).

Ground was broken for the Naval Medical Center on June 29, 1939 by Rear Admiral Percival S. Rossiter, MC, USN, (Ret.). President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Tower on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940.

The original Medical Center was composed of the Naval Hospital, designed to hold 1,200 beds, and the Naval Medical School, the Naval Dental School (now the National Naval Dental Center) and the Naval Medical Research Institute. In 1945, at the end of World War II, temporary buildings were added to accommodate up to 2,464 wounded American Sailors and Marines.

In August of 1960, a $5.6 million expansion project was initiated and consisted of two five-story wings attached to the main building's east side. Completed in the summer of 1963, Buildings 7 and 8 provided space for 258 beds and replaced the World War II temporary ward buildings.

In January, 1973, the mission of the Naval Medical Center was modified to include the provision: "to provide coordinated dispensary health care services as an integral element of the Naval Regional Health Care System, including shore activities, as may be assigned." This change established the National Naval Medical Center Region and placed all naval health care facilities within the Naval District Washington under the authority of the commanding officer of the Medical Center.

The new inpatient buildings and the Naval Medical Center were consolidated into one command on September 1, 1973 to form National Naval Medical Center. In 1975, an extensive renovation began which included the construction of two new buildings: Building 9, a three-story outpatient structure, and Building 10, a seven-story, 500-bed inpatient facility, with a combined area of more than 880,000 square feet.

In 1979, the remaining temporary buildings were replaced with a multi-level staff-parking garage. This addition made National Naval Medical Center one of the largest medical facilities in the country. The original Naval Medical Center tower has since been deemed a historical landmark and entered into the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Source: http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil As a non-copyrighted publication of the Federal Government of the United States, this material is in the Public Domain.