Walter Reed Army Hospital Closing

“After 102 years, the famous Walter Reed Hospital is no longer.

After caring for generations of wounded troups, generals and even presidents, the storied facility is closing.  Some of the buildings of historical significance will remain, but the rest will be torn down and the land will become property of the State Department and the District of Columbia.  The DC portion is expected to be developed into a retail center.

The hospital was famous for the care it gave, despite an expose in 2007 that showed soldiers living with rodent droppings and black mold.  President Lincoln was nearly shot by a sharpshooter on the ground of the facility.  President Eisenhower died there after months of treatment, as did General Douglas MacArthur.  President Nixon was treated for a staph infection and visited troops during his inpatient stay.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been treated at the facility, in one year 775,000 outpatient visits were completed along with a capacity to treat 150 as inpatients.  In addition to soldiers being treated at the facility, their families were also treated, resulting in many military brats being born at the facility.”