About Our Hospital | MedStar Washington Hospital Center | MedStar Health

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Main entrance to MedStar Washington Hospital Center

We are a 912-bed, major teaching and research hospital. We also are the largest private, not-for-profit hospital in the nation’s capital, among the 100 largest hospitals in the nation, and a major referral center for treating the most complex cases.

We are the busiest and largest hospital in Washington, D.C. and surrounding area. Our services help our community’s residents get and stay healthy, and help to improve patients’ quality of life by managing chronic illness.

A reputation for medical excellence

Here are some of our areas of specialty.

Burns
We operate the region’s only adult Burn Center, recognized as a national model in burn care therapies.

Heart and vascular care
The services we provide through MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute continually receive national recognition for excellence and outstanding clinical outcomes. We are consistently ranked a Top 50 hospital for Cardiology and Heart Surgery by U.S. News & World Report, and our cardiac surgery program has earned the highest designation–three stars–from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Diagnostics
We are proud to have the most advanced diagnostic and treatment options in the region.

Medical education
Each year, nearly 350 medical and surgical residents and fellows train at MedStar Washington’s 40 fully accredited clinical residency and fellowship programs.

Patient and community care
We are a not-for-profit hospital that is a major referral hub for the region's most complex cases, as well as a safety-net hospital for the most vulnerable patients in our community, providing $102 million annually in unsponsored care (charity care and bad debt) in FY23.

Renowned healthcare teams
We are fortunate to work with an internationally renowned multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, including medical/dental and surgical staffs.

Research
We operate a robust research program that has paved the way forinnovative new treatments—and the opportunity for patients to participate in leading-edge therapy.

Stroke
The hospital operates the Washington region’s first Comprehensive Stroke Center and the District’s only Cardiac Ventricular Assist Device program, both certified by The Joint Commission.

Trauma
The hospital is also home to MedSTAR Trauma Center, a nationally verified level I trauma center with a state-of-the-art fleet of helicopters and ambulances.

Our mission, vision, and values

Mission
MedStar Washington Hospital Center, a valued member of MedStar Health, is dedicated to delivering exceptional patient-firsthealth care. We provide the region with the highest quality care, thanks to thelatest medical advances in education and research.

Vision To be the trusted leader in caring for people and advancing health.

Guiding principle
To treat each patient as we would a member of our own family by providing the best medical treatment with caring and compassion. Through this achievement, we will be recognized as a national model for excellence in patient care.

Values

  • Service: We strive to anticipate and meet the needs of our patients, physicians, and co-workers.

  • Patient First: We strive to deliver the best to every patient every day. The patient is the first priority in everything we do.

  • Integrity: We communicate openly and honestly, build trust, and conduct ourselves according to the highest ethical standards.

  • Respect: We treat each individual, those we serve and those with whom we work, with the highest professionalism and dignity.

  • Innovation: We embrace change and work to improve all we do in a fiscally responsible manner.

  • Teamwork: System effectiveness is built on collective strength and cultural diversity of everyone, working with open communication and mutual respect.

Facts and figures

MedStar Washington Hospital Center has proudly carried out its mission to provide top quality patient first medical care and to forge its clinical and research legacy as "the first, the most, and the only" in service to the District, the region, and in memory of those who had the vision to make it possible.

For fiscal year 2023

Beds/staff
Licensed beds ................................................................912
Associates ....................................................................5,583
Nurses .................................................................. 2,190

Medical/dental staff
Physicians.....................................................................1,541
Advanced practice providers .......................................511

Medical education and research
Residents/fellows ...........................................................356
Residency/fellowship programs ....................................43
Clinical research studies ...............................................398

Patient care
Inpatient admissions................................................ 32,742
Outpatient visits.......................................................358,981
Cancer admissions......................................................1,298
Cancer outpatient visits........................................... 47,367
Cardiac admissions.....................................................6,378
Cardiac surgeries ........................................................1,688
Ventricular assist device implants..................................44
Heart transplants..............................................................51
Vascular surgeries.......................................................3,053
Neuro admissions .......................................................2,570
Emergency Department visits................................. 76,464
Births.............................................................................3,554

Community commitment
Charity care.....................................................$61.6 million
Bad debt .........................................................$40.5 million

Our history

The history of MedStar Washington Hospital Center began with an act of Congress.

In May of 1946, the Washington Metropolitan Hospital Council revealed the deplorable condition of the three hospitals in the District—Episcopal, Garfield, and The Central Dispensary and Emergency.

On August 9, 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the Hospital Center Act into law. The bill authorized spending $35 million and merged the three District hospitals, creating a new medical facility in a new location.

Twelve years later, on March 10, 1958, the Washington Hospital Center opened its doors.

In gratitude

The new hospital center would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of many people. Two of the earliest proponents for change were Eleanor Tydings (later known as Eleanor Tydings Ditzen) and Elysabeth Barbour. They formed a Hospital Center Committee in late 1943.

With support from their husbands, Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland and Senator Warren Barbour of New Jersey, they helped spearhead the effort to raise awareness and the support needed for a new hospital.

Historic milestones

The John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics

In 1982, John “Jack” Lynch, the first medical oncologist in Washington, DC founded the hospital’s first Ethics Committee. A few years later, driven by the needs of the hospital, its providers, patients and families, a dedicated Center for Ethics was developed. Today, the John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics serves as MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Department of Bioethics, whose consultative section responds to approximately 400 calls per year. The Center’s academic section produces internationally recognized and accredited bioethics education programming and publishes the Journal of Hospital Ethics, the only peer-reviewed and research-indexed publication from MedStar Health. The Center is additionally involved in both theoretical and clinical research resulting in policy development for the immediate institution, and continuous, leading contributions to the professional field.

Learn More About the John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics