Built in 1951, the Roanoke City Health Center was designed to reflect a nationwide shift in public healthcare after World War II. With federal funding under the Hill-Burton Act, public health centers were constructed to provide adequate and accessible healthcare to the public, particularly in underserved rural areas. These new centers contained assembly areas, immunization and dental clinics, examination and treatment rooms, and laboratories that corresponded to a new healthcare approach that emphasized education, diagnostic and preventative intervention, and progressive treatment. The functional and unadorned design of the Roanoke City Health Center exemplifies the impact of government-prescribed design standards and the dominance of the International Style in creating clean, efficient new public medical facilities in the mid-20th century. Its original design also conformed to Virginia’s segregation era, which required separate accommodations for whites and African Americans. Although later integrated, the building’s high level of integrity and relatively few alterations serves to illustrate the design practices of the segregation era.