History & Legacy

History & Legacy

Walter Reed General Hospital opened it doors on May 1, 1909.
The commander of the Army General Hospital, Major William C.
Borden had worked for several years to get funds for a new
hospital to replace the aged one at Washington Barracks, now
Ft. McNair. It was Borden that also worked to have the new
hospital named for his friend, Walter Reed. Reed and Borden
had known each other for years both teaching at the Army
Medical School while holding other assignments, Reed as the
curator of the Army Medical Museum and Borden at the hospital.
Borden had operated on his friend for appendicitis on November
17, 1902 and was shocked to find his condition much worse that
expected. Reed died several days later after peritonitis set in.
Reed was the only appendectomy patient Borden ever lost and
he was devastated. Following Reed’s death, Borden became
dedicated to honoring his friend. It was his dream to co-locate
the hospital, the Army Medical School, the Army Medical
Museum and the Surgeon General’s Library. This dream was
partially fulfilled but in his desire to honor his friend Reed, he
succeeded in ways he could not have imagined.
The size of the hospital grew rapidly during World War I when
many temporary buildings were constructed. In 1923 the Army
Medical School moved from its Seventh Street, NW location to a
new building on a knoll west of the main hospital building
(Building 1). The campus was known as the Army Medical
Center. In the 1920’s large permanent wings were added to each
end of Building 1. The Red Cross Building was completed in 1927.

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