Shovels Hit Dirt Today to Usher in New Era

President Franklin Roosevelt’s original sketch of what would later become the National Naval Medical Center. This sketch and other historical memorabilia can be found in the Roosevelt Rotunda Museum in Bldg. 1.

Defense Department officials will break ground on the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda Thursday at 10 a.m. on the campus of the National Naval Medical Center.

The construction of the 345-bed facility represents a new era of joint service provision of care to the nation’s warriors and their families.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the relocation of certain Walter Reed Army Medical Center activities from D.C. to Bethesda, and establishing the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda. The medical center will provide tertiary, sub-specialty and complex medical services. The $970 million project will add or renovate 2.5 million square feet.

The Navy issued a Record of Decision May 6 to address actions necessary to build the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda. Assistant Navy Secretary for Installations and Environment B.J. Penn signed the environmental document, officially allowing construction to begin.

Also, a new 120-bed community hospital at Fort Belvoir will provide non-tertiary care services to the Northern Virginia area. The Base Realignment and Closure law requires construction of the two facilities to be completed by Sept. 15, 2011.