Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Named for Major Walter Reed, who proved the mosquito transmission of yellow fever, Walter Reed Army Medical Center grew from the opening of Building 1, Walter Reed U.S. Army General Hospital, on 1 May 1909 into the Army's flagship medical center in Washington, DC. Building on Major William Borden's vision of uniting a new general hospital with the Army medical school, museum, and library, the hospital stood on the grounds of the Confederate Army's 1864 raid on Washington and expanded from 80 beds to 2500 during World War I. In 1923, the Army's first medical center integrated the hospital with the Army's medical, dental, nursing, and veterinary schools. During World War II, a 182 acre convalescent section at Forest Glen, MD, and a 20 acre residential section, Glen Haven, Wheaton, MD, were added. The center was renamed Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1951 on Reed's birth centennial. The Armed Force Institute of Pathology moved in 1955 into Building 54, one of the nation's first nuclear blast resistant buildings, while the Army Medical Library was transferred in 1956 to become the National Library of Medicine. The National Museum of Health and Medicine and the Army Medical Museum collection, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, were housed in Building 54's 1972 addition. Groundbreaking began in 1972 for the 1280 bed Building 2 hospital, dedicated in 1977 and renamed the Heaton Pavilion in 1994 after former Center Commander and Army Surgeon General Leonard D. Heaton. Completed in 2007, Building 2A, the Military Advanced Training Center, became the center's last major care building, providing rehabilitation for injured and amputee soldiers of the Iraqi and Afghan Wars. The medical center closed on 15 September 2011 after 102 years of medical contributions and treatment for soldiers, their families, veterans, and leaders.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States