The Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP) in Springfield, Missouri is a unique facility within the federal system — essentially a hospital-prison hybrid for male inmates who need ongoing medical or mental health care. Its roots go back to the Great Depression: Springfield's Chamber of Commerce, led by local businessman John T. Woodruff, offered the federal government 620 acres of land to secure the project, and Congress authorized construction in 1930. It opened in 1933 under the rather blunt original name "United States Hospital for Defective Delinquents," reflecting outdated era terminology for inmates with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. For decades, prisoners worked the surrounding farmland as part of the institution's operations, a practice that continued until 1966, and some of the original acreage was eventually returned to the city in 1977. The facility saw disturbances in 1941, 1944, and 1959. Today it remains one of the BOP's primary medical referral centers, housing inmates transferred in from across the country who require specialized treatment, so its population includes people sent there specifically for care rather than local commitments.