Left to Right: The Bayview Asylum, 1869, Aerial view photograph of the Baltimore City Hospitals campus, 1938, In December 2009, Johns Hopkins Bayview was the first hospital on the East Coast to use an intraoperative CT scanner to help doctors perform complex brain surgeries.

The imaging team at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center joined in the festivities earlier this year as the longtime local landmark celebrated 250 years of service to patients in the community.

The story of what is now known as Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center began even before the Declaration of Independence with the opening of the Baltimore City and County Almshouse in 1774. The land, 20 acres west of Baltimore, was purchased for 350 pounds of tobacco — a common form of currency at the time. The new facility’s mandate was to provide care and comfort for the indigent and infirm. The facility had two sections: an infirmary where a visiting doctor cared for the ill and a workhouse.

In 1866, the facility was relocated to its current Eastern Avenue location, on a crest overlooking the Chesapeake Bay — a location that inspired its new name, Baltimore Bay View Asylum. With a new name came an expanded mission. The new facility would serve as an asylum for the mentally ill, as well as a place for the poor and people needing medical care.

While not yet officially part of Johns Hopkins, Bay View Asylum’s partnership with the institution began soon after this relocation as pioneering pathologist William Welch, one of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s founding four physicians, began practicing there. By 1886, Johns Hopkins medical students and residents were training at Bay View. In 1890, the site marked another milestone as it became the first U.S. general hospital to establish a separate ward for patients with tuberculosis.

In 1925, Bay View Asylum was renamed Baltimore City Hospitals. The site expanded its mission, shifting to providing acute and chronic care for community members. Construction quickly followed, with the opening of a new 450-bed general hospital in 1935 (today’s A Building) and the north section of the B Building. The original Bay View Asylum building has been renovated several times since and is now named for Mason F. Lord, the first full-time chief of chronic and community medicine at Baltimore City Hospitals.

Baltimore City Hospitals officially became part of the Johns Hopkins family in 1984, when the facility was renamed the Francis Scott Key Medical Center, and ownership was transferred to Johns Hopkins. A decade later, in 1994, the connection was cemented as the campus was renamed with the moniker it bears today: Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Today, Johns Hopkins Bayview is a vibrant, sprawling medical complex, research facility and teaching hospital boasting renowned programs. Radiology and imaging have been a critical part of that story. The Department of Imaging and Imaging Sciences at Bayview is home to more than 25 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine specialized radiologists performing over 130,000 procedures annually. The department serves the East Baltimore community, as well as national and international patients.

Bayview Imaging is equipped with the latest equipment and utilizes innovative technology and techniques. In December 2009, Bayview was the first hospital on the East Coast to use an intraoperative CT scanner and neuro-navigation software to help doctors perform complex brain surgeries. With these tools, surgeons can more precisely identify the exact anatomy and operative approach after positioning the patient on the table, and can assess the success of the procedure before leaving the operating room.

Today, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center offers a variety of imaging services, including X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine exams and interventional procedures. Imaging staff and faculty members, led by Jenny Hoang, chair of Bayview Radiology, work tirelessly to fulfill the facility’s 250-year mission of providing care to those in need across our community.