Fitzsimons Army Medical Center The Fitzsimons Army Medical Center ( formerly the Fitzsimons Army Hospital ) was a medical facility of the United States military during the 20th century located on in Aurora , Colorado . The facility closed in 1999 and the grounds are being redeveloped for civilian use as the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District . The facility was founded by the United States Army during World War I arising from the need to treat the large number of casualties from chemical weapon s in Europe . Denver ' s reputation as a prime location for the treatment of tuberculosis led local citizens to lobby the Army on behalf of Denver as the site for the new hospital . Army Hospital 21 , as it was first called , was formally dedicated in the autumn of 1918 in Aurora , which at the time had a population of less than 1 , 000 . In July 1920 , the facility was formally renamed the Fitzsimons Army Hospital after Lt . William T . Fitzsimons , the first American medical officer killed in World War I . A new main building , known as Building 500 , was built in 1941 . At the time , it was the largest structure in Colorado . The facility was used heavily during World War II to treat returning casualties and became one of the Army ' s premier medical training centers . In the 1950s , Dwight Eisenhower received treatment at the facility three separate times for his heart condition while he was president . In September 1955 , while on vacation at his in - laws ' house in Denver , he suffered a myocardial infarction and was placed in an oxygen tent at the facility . In 2000 , a suite of rooms on the hospital ' s eighth floor was restored to appear as it did when Eisenhower was recovering there . Secretary of State , former United States Senator , and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry was born at the facility on December 11 , 1943 , while his father was receiving treatment for tuberculosis . Closure and transfer of facilities . In July 1995 , the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of the facility , with the exception of the Edgar J . McWhethy Army Reserve Center , located at the southeast corner of the installation . The closure was completed in 1999 and the reserve center was relocated to the northeast portion of the site . The projected $ 5 billion ( Economic Contributions of Activities at Fitzsimons Life Science District and the UC Denver Anschutz Medical Campus - Sammons / Dutton LLC , 2008 ) redevelopment of the facility into civilian use currently includes the construction of the University of Colorado Hospital ' s $ 147 million Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion , and the $ 509 - million Children ' s Hospital . The medical campus also includes University of Colorado Denver medical education and research facilities , including the Ben Nighthorse Campbell Center for Native American Research , named in honor of the U . S . Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado . Additional facilities currently built at the former base include the Bioscience Park Center and Bioscience East ( multi - tenant commercial lab buildings in the planned Colorado Science + Technology Park at Fitzsimons ) and 21 Fitzsimons ( a residential / retail town center ) . The future Veterans Affairs Medical Center is currently building . United States Army Medical Equipment and Optical School ( USAMEOS ) . FAMC was the location of the United States Army Medical Equipment and Optical School ( USAMEOS ) . USAMEOS provided technicians trained in Biomedical Equipment Repair or Optical Laboratory Operations . Biomedical equipment repair personnel ( referred to as BMETs — pronounced ' bee / mets ' ) were assigned to military medical units to install , maintain , repair , and calibrate sophisticated life support , diagnostic , imaging , and general medical equipment . Military Occupation Specialties ( MOS ) graduating from USAMEOS included : 35G , 35S , 35T , and 35U . Optical laboratory technicians were designated as 42E upon graduation of the 21 week optical training course . In the hallways of the USAMEOS training facility hung the pictures of graduating BMET classes over decades of operation . When the USAMEOS program was first developed , the training program was divided into Basic and Advanced Courses . The basic course work was 20 weeks long . The advanced course work was 32 weeks long . The courses were later changed to a 40 week basic class ( 35G ) and 32 week advanced course ( 35U ) . The graduates of the basic course were known as " Super G ' s " referring to the MOS of 35G . With a small amount of additional course work , USAMEOS graduates could earn an AAS in Biomedical Equipment Maintenance from Regis University in Denver . During the 1990s , the MOS designation was changed to 91A for Biomedical Equipment Repair Technician , and the Basic Course consisted of a 38 - week course broken up into twelve modules . Modules included Anatomy and Physiology , Basic Soldering , AC / DC theory and Ohm ' s Law , Transistor Theory , Digital Circuits , Basic Troubleshooting , Dental and Pneumatic Devices , Sterilizers and Ultrasonic Cleaners , Linear Circuits , Spectrophotometers and Solid State Relays , and two modules of X - ray . The school culminated in a field problem where students lived in ISOs and temper tents while filling out paperwork in the field environment to include pulling guard duty . After graduation from the basic course , students would typically be assigned to an operational unit for practical work between the Basic and Advanced Courses . Technical training at USAMEOS was intensive and provided both engineering theory and hands on learning opportunities in an extensive set of labs .