Tripler History

The origins of Tripler Army Medical Center date back to 1907 when several wooden structures at Fort Shafter were used as a hospital. The facility was named in 1920 after Brig. Gen. Charles Stuart Tripler, in honor of his contributions to Army medicine during the Civil War. At the start of World War II, the hospital at Fort Shafter had 450 beds. Plans for a new Tripler hospital atop Moanalua ridge were drawn in 1942 and construction was completed in 1948. The architecturally distinctive coral pink structure, nestled on the southern slopes of Oahu’s Koolau range, was dedicated on Sept. 10, 1948, and has become a familiar landmark on the island of Oahu.