William Beaumont Army Medical Center William Beaumont Army Medical Center is a Department of Defense medical facility located in El Paso , Texas . It provides comprehensive care to all beneficiaries including active duty military , their family members , and retirees . The hospital is located in the Central / Northeastern part of El Paso . At present , WBAMC is the closest hospital to the Northeast , and provides billable emergency room services for Northeast El Paso . The hospital itself is very large , and contains a rather sizable Veterans Affairs Office for former military members who are in need of medical treatment . The William Beaumont Army Medical Center ( WBAMC ) is one of the many health care institutions affiliated with the Paul L . Foster School of Medicine which is also located in El Paso , Texas . WBAMC is also a participating hospital for medical resident s from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences ( USU ) , Bethesda , MD . The current commander of WBAMC is Colonel Michael S . Heimall . WBAMC is named for Army surgeon William Beaumont ( 1785 - 1853 ) , the " Father of Gastric Physiology " . The buildings from the " Old Fort Bliss " to include the Fort Bliss Fort Hospital ( 1893 ) were added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23 , 1972 . History . The William Beaumont Army Medical Center ( WBAMC ) , formerly the William Beaumont General Hospital ( WBGH ) , is 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 Lanoria Mesa in 1893 and Building 8 ( now the Fort Bliss Inspector General ' s Office ) became the hospital . In 1916 , the hospital moved to Building 1 ( presently the Fort Bliss Directorate of Resource Management ) . The construction of WBGH ’ s 48 buildings in 1920 - 21 signaled the beginning of Fort Bliss ’ s role as a major military medical center . Over the next two decades WBGH served as both Fort Bliss ’ s station hospital and as a general hospital for the western portion of the Army ’ s 8th Service Command . The hospital made of tile and stucco opened July 2 , 1921 , with a bed capacity for 403 patients . On staff were six medical officers , two nurses and 30 medical corpsmen . During World War II , WBGH expanded to include 174 buildings and a crowded 4 , 064 beds . This included the 1 , 000 beds at Building 1 and another 750 beds at Biggs Air Force Base , now Biggs Army Air Field . Its capabilities also expanded as the hospital began providing specialized medical care to wounded soldiers returning from all theaters of the war . In December 1943 , the plastic surgery clinic was opened . During early 1945 , approximately 6 , 000 inpatients were treated . In addition , a military school for medical technicians offered specialized training in surgical , dental , laboratory , X - ray , pharmacy and veterinary procedures . The hospital had a fully equipped physical therapy and occupational therapy center . Also , the artificial eye clinic was opened . Later , the hospital expanded into a neuro - psychiatric treatment and orthopedic surgery center . Following the war , WBGH continued to serve the medical needs of Fort Bliss and surrounding military installations until the Army ’ s needs outgrew the capacity of the hospital . Maj . Gen . ( Dr . ) Charles C . Pixley , the hospital commander from September 1975 through December 1976 , was promoted to lieutenant general in 1977 and became the Surgeon General of the Army . 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 . Although 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 . This facility provides an additional of clinical and administrative space . Today , the hospital has a bed capacity for more than 150 patients . However , 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 . November 1995 , WBAMC became one of the largest buildings in El Paso with another of floor space for the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center . Now , the WBAMC complex has more than one million square feet of floor space for patient care and administrative duties . External links . " This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain . "