MedStar Union Memorial Hospital is rooted in a long history of medical and nursing excellence, and our commitment to serving the community has been evident from the beginning.

The seven women who established the Union Protestant Infirmary (UPI), as it was first called, in 1854 wanted a place where "the sick, the poor and the infirm" could receive quality care. In 1867, UPI became the first non-university hospital to develop a residency training program and by 1890 the School of Nursing (now closed) was established.

UPI was renamed Union Memorial Hospital in 1920 and three years later, the hospital expanded into a new home at Calvert and 33rd Streets in Baltimore. Expansions to the campus continued through 1975 and beyond, and in 2004, MedStar Union Memorial celebrated its 150th anniversary. In 2012, the hospital was renamed MedStar Union Memorial Hospital.

MedStar Union Memorial has evolved from a 20-bed to a 223-bed hospital with more than 2,500 employees and a medical staff of more than 620 physicians. As long as there are new challenges in medicine, MedStar Union Memorial will find new ways to meet those challenges with compassion and quality care.

MedStar Union Memorial History

2012 | 2008 | 2006 | 2004 | 2000 | 1994 | 1991 | 1979 | 1975 | 1929 | 1923 | 1920 | 1890 | 1867 | 1854

2012
Union Memorial changes its name to MedStar Union Memorial

2008
Arnold Palmer SportsHealth Center, rooftop helipad open

2006
Decker Orthopaedic Institute, Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Heart Institute open

2004
Union Memorial Hospital 150th Anniversary

2000
Diabetes and Endocrine Center, Vascular Institute open

1994
U.S. Congress designates Curtis National Hand Center as the National Center for the Treatment of the Hand and Upper Extremity; Open Heart Surgery program opens

1991
Union Memorial School of Nursing closes

1979
Sports Medicine Center opens

1975
Union Memorial expands into North Building on University Parkway; Raymond Curtis National Hand Center opens

1924 - 1929
Johnston Hospital & Nurses Home and Bauernschmidt Building expansions

1923
Union Memorial moves into new home at Calvert and 33rd Streets

1920
Union Protestant Infirmary (UPI) renamed Union Memorial Hospital

1890
UPI School of Nursing opens

1867

First non-university hospital in Maryland to develop residency training program

1854
UPI founded as first community hospital in Baltimore

Dr. E.F. Shaw Wilgis, a prominent leader today at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, is a revered founding surgeon among four, of the internationally recognized Curtis National Hand Center. He served as its chief for more than ten years. But that's just the beginning of a long, far-reaching career and a lifetime of achievement. Watch the video to learn more on his incredible journey from hand surgery, to leadership to research.

In 1939 the infamous Chicago gangster, Al Capone, became a patient of Union Memorial Hospital. As a thank you for the quality care Capone had received, he gifted something wonderful to the hospital. You can find it listed on the national registry of historical landmark.