Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on 113 acres in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military. WRAMC combined with the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland in 2011 to form the tri-service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

About Walter Reed Army Medical Center in brief

Summary Walter Reed Army Medical CenterWalter Reed Army Medical Center was the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on 113 acres in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military. The center was named after Major Walter Reed, an Army physician who led the team that confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct contact. WRAMC combined with the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland in 2011 to form the tri-service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The grounds and historic buildings of the old campus are being redeveloped as the Parks at Walter Reed. The entire complex of 100-brick Georgian style buildings is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will be open to the public in the spring of 2014. The complex will be home to the Army Medical Institute of Pathology, the Army’s Pathology Research Center, and the Walter Reed Medical Research Institute.

It will also host the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Museum of Science and Industry. It is the first of its kind in the United States and is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The medical center is located in a former arsenal known as Fort Lesley J. McNair, which dates back to 1791. The post served as an arsenal, played an important role in the nation’s defense, and housed the first U. S. Federal Penitentiary from 1839 to 1862. Today, Fort McNair enjoys a strong tradition as the intellectual headquarters for defense.