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About the School
A Brief History of The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
by G. David Anderson, University Archivist

Page: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

In 1966, the University dedicated the Eugene Meyer Pavilion, offering greatly increased laboratory, x-ray, research, and clinical treatment facilities. An entire floor of the Meyer Pavilion, devoted to research, houses the six-million-volt linear accelerator, the radioisotope laboratory, operating theatres with overhead observation galleries, and in-and-out surgical suites for minor and oral surgery.

In 1973 the last component of The George Washington University Medical Center was moved to Washington Circle with the construction of the new home of the medical school, Walter G. Ross Hall and the Himmelfarb Medical Library. All aspects of the Medical Center--hospital, medical school, and research facilities--were centralized at last.

In 1981 the Medical Center's staff made front-page news when President Reagan, shot at close range, was rushed to the GW emergency room. The fine service that saved the president's life was commemorated ten years later by the establishment of the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine to train emergency system coordinators and pursue basic and clinical research in emergency medicine.

In keeping with its mission to serve the community, the GW Medical Center, in conjunction with three other area hospitals, founded the Health Care for the Homeless Project in the mid-1980's to provide more accessible and appropriate health care for Washington's homeless.

In 1988, GW dedicated its new Ambulatory Care Center, whose modern clinical offices, surgical suites, cancer center, radiology labs, and pharmacy adjoin the renovated doctors' 0ffices in the Burns Building.

In 1997, the public health programs in the School of Medicine had sufficiently expanded to form the basis for a separate, second school, the School of Public Health and Health Services, which was officially inaugurated on July 1 of that year.

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© 2003 - The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Last updated: March 10, 2004