MedStar Health History

MedStar Health Facilities Win National Awards for Environmental Sustainability

MedStar Health is named 2018 Most Wired for the 14th time.

MedStar Health joins a national coalition to improve the process of medical diagnostics, ACT for Better Diagnosis, an initiative of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine.

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital’s Wound Healing Center named the Atlantic Zone’s Center of the Year by Healogics, Inc.

MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute’s cardiac surgery program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center earns the highest quality rating from the prestigious Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital achieves Magnet® designation for the fourth consecutive time by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

MedStar Health celebrates 20 years since its establishment as a not-for-profit healthcare system in June 1998.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital earns the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers.

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center is recognized as Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital’s shoulder and elbow program, part of MedStar Orthopaedic Institute, earns the Joint Commission’s advanced subspecialty certification in shoulder replacement surgery.

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital earns five stars — the highest possible quality rating — from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Hospital Compare.

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center opens its Cancer Center at Loch Raven Campus, Baltimore.

MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital opens the Breast Cancer Center.

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and MedStar Washington Hospital Center receive prestigious international recognition as Baby-Friendly Designated birth facilities by Baby Friendly USA.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center receives Pathway to Excellence® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association.

MedStar Georgetown’s Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant program celebrates its 100th transplant.

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center earns Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders (NICHE) Level 4 status for its exemplary care of elderly patients.

MedStar Southern Maryland is named one of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals.

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital’s Auxiliary celebrates its 100th anniversary of caring for the community.

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital recognized with 2015 Quality Innovation Award from the Virginia Health Quality Center (VHQC).

MedStar Washington Hospital Center opens the only dedicated heart and vascular hospital in the nation’s capital.

MedStar Georgetown is ranked No. 1 in the Washington, D.C., region by U.S. News & World Report.

MedStar Health launches its first joint MedStar Georgetown Surgical Outcomes Research Center and MedStar Health Research Institute Program to provide its surgical residents with research support.

MedStar Harbor Hospital opens its new Inpatient Behavioral Health Center.

MedStar Health at Lafayette Centre opens in downtown Washington, D.C.,

MedStar Health at Brandywine opens in Southern Prince George’s County.

MedStar Health Becomes the Official Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Team of the Baltimore Orioles.

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center unveils its $7.8 million Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute physicians at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital become the first in Maryland to implant the WATCHMAN™ device, for cardiac patients with AFib, an alternative to blood thinning medication.

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, MedStar Good Samaritan, MedStar Harbor and MedStar Union Memorial Hospitals honored with the 2016 “Partner for Change” award by Practice Greenhealth.

MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital opens a new geriatric center.

MedStar Health’s four Baltimore area hospitals receive three-year accreditation with commendation for their regional cancer program by The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons.

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center are recognized as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by the Joint Commission.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the only hospital in the Washington region with a nationally ranked heart program.

MedStar Franklin Square Receives Get with the Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital launches a new KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic/Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® in Washington, D.C.,

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital’s Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant program earns accreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center receives the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award.

MedStar’s President and CEO Kenneth A. Samet, FACHE, is named a Top Healthcare Executive by Becker’s Hospital Review.

MedStar Health Baltimore Cancer Network receives the 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

MedStar Montgomery Medical Center becomes the first hospital in the region offering FDA-approved, VBLOC vagal blocking therapy for obesity.

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center becomes the first hospital in Baltimore to earn Prestigious Baby-Friendly Designation from Baby-Friendly USA.

The Breast Center at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital receives three-year, full accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC).

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center debuts its new state-of-the-art Center for Digestive Disease.

MedStar Health Research Institute (inclusive of the entire MedStar Health system) wins the ACTION III Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and is now a prime part of the ACTION Network, a vehicle that issues task orders designed for highly qualified, highly resourced contractors and partners to undertake rapid-cycle research focused on one or more of AHRQ’s priorities.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital surgeons perform the hospital’s first islet cell transplant for chronic pancreatitis, and the National Pancreas Foundation recognizes the hospital for expertise in treatment of pancreatic diseases.

MedStar Health opens a comprehensive, integrated, multispecialty care center in Federal Hill, located in downtown Baltimore.

MedStar Health opens four more MedStar Health Urgent Care locations, in Belcamp, Federal Hill, and Wheaton, Maryland, and in Alexandria, Virginia.

Becker’s Hospital Review names MedStar Health as one of the 150 Great Places to Work in Health Care in 2014.

MedStar Health enters into a clinical affiliation with CVS Health to enhance access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services.

MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, in partnership with Peninsula Regional Medical Center, opens in Millsboro, Delaware. This is the network’s first venture into Delaware.

A new strategic alliance between MedStar Health and the Cerner Corporation is established to advance the quality and efficiency of patient care through health information technology.

MedStar Health becomes official medical team of the Washington Capitals and Wizards and will serve as the official sports medicine physicians for both teams.

MedStar Health Research Institute receives the Pioneer Research Award as part of the American Association of Medical Colleges Learning Healthcare System Research Initiative.

MedStar Health opens four more MedStar Health Urgent Care locations, in Perry Hall and Pikesville in the Baltimore area, and in Adams Morgan and Gaithersburg in the Washington, D.C., area.

Surgeons from The Curtis National Hand Center at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital perform their first double arm transplant — one of only seven successful bilateral arm transplants in the United States.

MedStar Health launches a new systemwide brand strategy to evolve the MedStar Health corporate signature and how the system is presented and promoted to Maryland and Washington, D.C., region communities.

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center becomes part of MedStar Health.

MedStar Health establishes the MedStar Heart Institute to enhance access to excellence, experience, innovation, and a commitment to research and the advancement of heart medicine.

MedStar launches its systemwide Population Health Management Initiative, moving the organization toward a more comprehensive approach in providing benefits that transform the healthcare experience.

MedStar launches its systemwide initiative to become a High Reliability Organization, with the goal of creating a patient safety culture that achieves zero preventable patient harm.

MedStar Family Choice, MedStar’s Medicaid insurance plan, expands into the Washington, D.C., region.

MedStar Health opens it first two MedStar Health Urgent Care locations in Towson and Wheaton, Maryland.

MedStar Health opens a comprehensive, integrated, multispecialty care center in Mitchellville, Maryland, by co-locating three existing community practices and adding new specialties needed in the community.

MedStar Visiting Nurse Association expands services and regional scope through the acquisition of Southern Maryland Home Health, Inc., further penetrating Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties.

MedStar Diabetes Institute is recognized as winner of Microsoft Health Users Group 2011 Innovation Award.

MedStar Health is featured in the February 2010 issue of Baltimore magazine as one of the region's "Best Places to Work."

Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care proudly recognizes MedStar Health and its Maryland-area hospitals for winning Delmarva's Excellence Award for Quality Improvement, a record 18 times since its inception in 2001.

MedStar Family Choice, a Maryland Medicaid Managed Care Organization, has been named the top-ranked Medicaid health plan in Maryland by the U.S. News and NCQA America's Best Health Insurance Plans 2009-10.

MedStar Health was recognized as one of the nation's 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems by Hospitals & Health Networks. Hospitals and healthcare organizations are named to the list based on responses to the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking study.

MedStar St. Mary's Hospital becomes part of MedStar Health.

MedStar Health celebrates 10-year anniversary.

MedStar Montgomery Medical Center becomes part of MedStar Health.

Kenneth A. Samet becomes MedStar Health President and Chief Executive Officer.

MedStar Health launches One Vision One SPIRIT campaign, which rolls out a united vision — to be the trusted leader in caring for people and advancing health — and one set of values — Service, Patient first, Integrity, Respect, Innovation, and Teamwork — across the system.

MedStar Health named The Largest Business of the Year by the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

MedStar Health received the 2005 Bridging the Gap Pioneer Award.

MedStar Health receives $1.29 million in federal funding for Phase I of EROne, the nation's first 21st century all-risks-ready emergency facility.

MedStar Health is the only health system on the East Coast to offer both CyberKnife® and the Leksell Gamma Knife® technologies for the treatment of brain, neck, and spine tumors that are diagnosed as "inoperable."

MedStar Sports Medicine is created.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital becomes part of MedStar Health.

MedStar Health is established as the new name for the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in the mid-Atlantic region to serve two major metropolitan areas and the 20th largest not-for-profit system in the United States.

Church Home & Hospital closes.

Helix Health and Medlantic boards of directors announce and vote unanimously to merge the two organizations.

BWHealth, the strategic partnership between Helix Health and Medlantic Healthcare Group, is formed.

MedStar Harbor Hospital joins Helix Health.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center becomes a founding member of Capital Community Health Plan, a Medicaid health maintenance organization.

HelixCare, a physician organization, is created.

Church Home & Hospital joins Helix Health.

MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital joins Helix Health.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center's Physician Hospital Organization (WHC-PHO) is established.

A major corporate reorganization and service consolidation is implemented at Medlantic.

MedStar Visiting Nurse Association becomes part of Medlantic Healthcare Group.

Washington Healthcare Corporation becomes Medlantic Healthcare Group.

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center merge to form Helix Health.

MedStar National Rehabilitation Network opens.

Washington Healthcare Corporation established by MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital opens.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center opens.

MedStar St. Mary's Hospital opens.

MedStar Harbor Hospital opens.

MedStar Visiting Nurse Association chartered by an Act of Congress.

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center opens.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital opens.

Church Hospital opens.

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital opens.