Southwest Washington Medical Center represents an original frontier of medicine: it was the first permanent hospital in the Northwest Territories. Southwest Washington Medical Center (SWMC) is a 360-bed hospital providing medical services to the residents of Vancouver, Washington, and the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Specialty services include cancer care, orthopedics, neurology, women's health, and heart and vascular care. It also operates satellite urgent care and specialty clinics. The not-for-profit organization, founded in 1858, is one of the largest employers in the county. The hospital has some 600 physicians on its medical staff. It is part of the Southwest Washington Health System.