Photo By Jason W. Edwards | Brooke Army Medical Center Commander, Col. Kevin Kelly, left, receives a Proclamation...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (April 25, 2026) – Brooke Army Medical Center held a ceremony to honor the 30th anniversary of the hospital at its current location, Building 3600, as part of the Invincible Spirit Festival and organization day festivities on April 17.
This was the eighth time the Gary Sinise Foundation sponsored the ISF at BAMC.
BAMC Commander Col. Kevin Kelly kicked off the day by thanking Gary Sinise and all the people who were instrumental in putting the events together.
“I had the great opportunity to meet Mr. Sinise this morning and what a wonderful person; he is so supportive -- he is here for you, for us and for what we do each and every day,” Kelly said. “As I think about our team, I can think of no better description than the invincible spirit of a team that is here seven days a week, 24 hours a day, to take care of our patients. We all do that together and better than anyone in the world.”
“As we celebrate 30 years of moving into this facility, I’m not thinking about the steel and the bricks that went up in the original construction, or the high-tech MRI machines and surgical robots that currently sit in the facility, I’m thinking about you, the people who make our facility go each and every day,” he added.” You make a difference with what you do, and I thank you for that.”
Kelly also thanked the community partners and the patients who come into the facility every day and trust BAMC with their health and wellbeing.
“We are honored to take care of you,” the commander said. “Thank you for trusting us as we continue to provide you the care that you deserve.”
Retired Army Col. (Dr.) Evan Renz, a former BAMC commander and the current deputy to the commander for quality and safety, reflected on why BAMC is so important to military medicine and the San Antonio community. “We have operated on this campus for 30 years,” Renz said. “Thirty years ago, we moved the patients from Fort Sam Houston, what some of you refer to as the ‘old BAMC’ to what was then the ‘new’ BAMC.”
highlighted some of the significant history of Fort Sam Houston and military medicine in San Antonio, “Military City USA.”
Long History
Military medicine has a long history in San Antonio. The first Post Hospital opened as a small medical dispensary located in a single-story wooden building. During the early years, the Post Hospital was in temporary structures, and it was not until 1886 that the first permanent hospital was built.
In 1908, an 84-bed Station Hospital was built. Construction began in 1927 for a new 418-bed Station Hospital. Between 1929 and 1933, as construction continued on the new hospital, the existing Station Hospital was commanded by a physician by the name of Brig. Gen. Roger Brooke. The new hospital was completed by 1937. After the outbreak of WWII, the Station Hospital was re-designated as a General Hospital and on Sept. 8, 1942, it was renamed the Brooke General Hospital in honor of Dr. Brooke. As Brooke General Hospital continued to expand into additional buildings the total capacity exceeded 7,000 beds and was referred to as the Brooke Hospital Center. By 1946, the entire collection of medical treatment, research and education facilities on Fort Sam Houston was renamed as Brooke Army Medical Center.
Carolyn Putnam began working for BAMC in 1960 in general surgery.
“From general surgery, I went to cardiothoracic surgery, from there I went to the outpatient clinics then to the Department of Medicine,” Putnam said.
She also worked for a deputy commander and is currently the secretary to the commander.
“I’ve loved every job I’ve had,” Putnam said. “I feel very rewarded and blessed I had been able to work at BAMC.” By 1986, Brooke Army Medical Center had expanded to 59 separate buildings located across Fort Sam Houston but could no longer support the many advances in medical care that were occurring. This led to the formation of a group of dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the need for a ‘new’ modern medical center. Their efforts were successful, and in September 1987, ground was broken for construction of the new $500 million facility.
“I remember, the facility had become in need of repairs and was not meeting some of the modern standards that we were seeing across the country,” said Renz. “It took a lot of work by a lot of people to get both the financial and legislative support necessary to secure the funding to build such a large facility.”
On March 14, 1996, building 3600 was dedicated and one month later, on April 13, 1996, the inpatients from the ‘old’ BAMC on Fort Sam Houston proper were safely transported to the ‘new’ BAMC.
Putnam remembers moving from the “old” BAMC to the new facility.
“There was a lot of happiness and a lot of sadness because we were leaving our offices and buildings” she said. “The buildings had a lot of character even though they were old. It was sad, but it was also exciting thinking about the new hospital, and we were finally going to get our 450-bed hospital.”
Putnam described the New Orleans-style wake they held on Fort Sam Houston before they moved to the new hospital.
“We walked down Dickman Road and back and we had crying towels with us that we used because everyone was so sad, but then we were happy too,” she explained. “It was so exciting just to be in this hospital, this big, beautiful building.”
“At the time of its opening, the hospital was incredibly modern with state-of-the-art operating rooms and intensive care units, it was a significant upgrade from the hospital that existed on Fort Sam Houston,” Renz said.
“It allowed for the trauma center to acquire Level One trauma designation and is clearly one of the hallmarks that BAMC is proud of to this day.”
By early 2004, BAMC began receiving combat casualties from both Iraq and Afghanistan in large numbers.
“After 9/11 it became very apparent that the current facility was not large enough to meet the needs of our combat casualties,” Renz said.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission of 2005 assessed the capabilities of both BAMC and Wilford Hall and concluded that new construction was needed.
The Commission ultimately recommended and Congress appropriated more than $800 million for construction of the Consolidated Tower, Building 3608, which opened in 2011. The expansion supported the move of all inpatient services formerly at Wilford Hall to the BAMC campus.
In 2007, the Center for the Intrepid was constructed as a premiere rehabilitation facility to support combat casualties and amputees who served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For Renz, the most significant memories are the years where BAMC cared for combat casualties arriving from Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It’s important to remember why it was built in the first place,” he said. “It is to provide world class medical care to our sons and daughters who were injured while performing their military mission. That is why we exist. We are a readiness platform and every day we train to provide combat casualty care across the globe and that is what we do here on this campus better than anywhere else in the world.”
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2026 17:06 |
| Story ID: | 563597 |
| Location: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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