Fort Howard Veterans Hospital

History

The Fort Howard Veterans Hospital sat on the site of Fort Howard, a site that saw military action dating back to the War of 1812 when the British landed thousands of men there as the precursor to the Battle of Baltimore. In August 1940 the Veterans Administration (VA) acquired the title to the fort, and began moving operations there in January 1941. When the VA took over the site, the Medical Corps building was renovated to be the nurses’ home, infirmary, and attendants’ quarters. From 1925 to 1928 that nurses' home was the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur. The hospital officially opened for patient care in 1943.

Starting in 1958, the hospital was a major health services research site in the VA's early effort to increase care and efficiency in its hospital system in what became known as the Fort Howard Program. The program was the initiation of the Health Services R&D Service (HSR&D). During the program, the HSR&D established the VA's first intensive care unit to test the value of individual monitoring.

The hospital closed in the early 2000s and the VA is leasing the site for mixed-use development for veterans.