Psychiatry

History of Howard University Hospital

Howard University Hospital is one of America's best hospitals. The rich tradition of leadership and service at Howard University Hospital (HUH) dates back to 1862. Housed in converted army barracks, it was initially called Freedmen’s Hospital and provided a refuge where ex-slaves received the medical care they were denied elsewhere. 

In the late 1860s, Freedmen’s formed a partnership with the Howard University College of Medicine to train African-American medical professionals. Together the medical school and the hospital have served as a training ground for many of the nation's top African-American physicians. 

Over the course of its 145-year history of providing the finest primary, secondary and tertiary health care services, Howard University Hospital has become one of the most comprehensive health care facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and designated a DC Level 1 Trauma Center. In April 2007, the Hospital ranked number one among selected area hospitals on 19 quality measures published by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. 

A private, nonprofit institution, HUH is the nation's only teaching hospital located on the campus of a historically Black university. It offers medical students a superior learning environment and opportunities to observe or participate in ground-breaking clinical and research work with professionals who are changing the face of health care. Washingtonian and Black Enterprise magazines have identified physicians affiliated with the hospital as leaders in a vast range of specialties.