U.S. Marine Hospital

This is a list of U.S. Marine Hospitals and Public Health Service Hospitals that operated during the system's existence from 1798 to 1981. The primary beneficiary of the hospitals were civilian mariners known as the Merchant Marine, although they had other beneficiaries at various times; the system was unrelated to the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798; it was reorganized into the Marine Hospital Service in 1871 and renamed the U.S. Public Health Service in 1912. The hospital system became part of the Public Health Service's Bureau of Medical Services when it was created in 1943. The number of major hospitals peaked at thirty in 1943, and declined to nine in 1970. The system was abolished in 1981. Many of the hospitals were transferred to other organizations and are still in use as a variety of purposes, including as hospitals, offices, apartments, and historical sites. History The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798. Although the system was funded and largely operated by the federal government, they were locally managed with little centralized oversight, and with many positions filled through political patronage. In 1871, it was reorganized into a centralized administration, the Marine Hospital Service, led by the Surgeon General and staffed by a Commissioned Corps of officers.