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Ground broken on new Walter Reed

Defense Department officials broke ground Wednesday on the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the campus of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, the Army announced in a press release.

“Construction of the 345-bed facility represents a new era of joint service provision of care to our nation’s warriors and their families,” the release said.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the relocation of certain Walter Reed activities from Washington, D.C., to the Bethesda location about four miles north, and establishing the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The $970 million medical center will provide tertiary, sub-specialty and complex medical services within 2.5 million square feet of new and renovated space.

The Navy issued a Record of Decision May 6 to address actions necessary to build the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The document was signed May 6 by the assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment, officially allowing construction to begin.

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