1 And yet the US government still pays for lazy Welfare queens. Go figure...

2 WR had a lousy rep and was old.They will proceed to build a fantasticallly overpriced,state of the art facilty that will soon have just as bad a rep.

3 1 And yet the US government still pays for lazy Welfare queens. Go figure...

There are more welfare queens than noble warriors, thus the welfare queens command a bigger share of the votes.

4

Bravo, DiT.

 

5 I'm going down there in September for a course, maybe I can get a good deal on some used furniture?

6

>>WR had a lousy rep and was old.They will proceed to build a fantasticallly overpriced,state of the art facilty that will soon have just as bad a rep.

No no no, O-Care for ALL!!!

7 Dr.Walter Reed deserves better than the reputation the hospital which bears his name had in the last few years.


I salute and thank those who did their best at WR over the years.

8 Walter Reid is merging with Bethesda Naval Hospital to form some new giant facility. There was a news story awhile back detailing how the new facility's atrium could hold the Statue of Liberty on its side.

9

My family served our veterans proudly at WR.  My uncle was a surgeon there before being assigned to a MASH unit in Korea.  My cousin was surgeon there on 9/11.  And my brother-in-law was a trauma nurse there in the first years of the Iraq-Afghanistan wars.

Sad that WR was allowed to fall so far. 

10 Man, I was born there back in the mid 50's.
To Air Force Parents.
And retired from the Navy.
Talk about a full Circle.

11  "it's like losing your favorite uncle," said Colonel Norvell Coots. You know, that uncle that molested you but paid for your college. That favorite one. 

12 Does anyone know what is going to happen to the museum that was attached to the hospital? I have fond memories of old school medical exhibits that would be considered too grotesque for any modern science museum. When I was 10 I spent a whole day out of my DC vacation wandering around that place.

13 Thanks to the asses for making it impossible to read or comment on the ont

14 Better check the backups now.

15 Some darn good scientists and clinicians worked there. And the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has trained thousands of radiology residents. --MDM [son of an Army MD]

16 For the record, the medical care I received at WRAMC was top notch. My surgeons, therapists, and general doctors on Ward 57 were great.  The problems I endured after losing my arm in Dec 2006 had to do with the large bureaucracy that made up the place.  In fact, I can't think of a better metaphor for our current government.  With out of touch civilian reps (some caught literally napping at their desk), no advice on how to navigate the system, and small unknown "help" departments tucked away in buildings that no one knows about, and empty offices during normal work hours, its no wonder the average time to get out of Reed was a year for patients like me.  And now people are naive enough to think that creating an even bigger and "better" facility is going to fix the problems those of us had to endure at WRAMC? Please.

17 @donkey show: yes, they're being BRAC'd/realigned & a good deal of the DRs will be in crystal city

18 Lets close the UN buildings instead

19 I was born at Walter Reed. Only boy that day out of 12 births. I thought it had closed already.

20 Sad that the machine can ruin a place where so many useful people have served.  It's the place where my father did he residency and where my little brother was born.

21 I had to go there for dependent care over the past three years and all i can say is that they had barely adequate support staffing and the worst parking I've ever experienced, period. Scratch that, there was no parking and coupled with no access to the metro so an appointment there meant we had to either go there the night before and wait for a spot, leave the car there overnight and arrive around 7am and wait several hours or drive to Bethesda, wait for a parking spot, wait for the shuttle, take the shuttle which ran at inconvenient intervals and wait again.and do this with sick children along with many other families and you can understand the frustration.
 It made more sense to assign us medical care on the outside but this being the model for Obamacare, we could not do anything that made sense for the end user.
The military docs we saw there were top-notch and we got excellent care but it was impossible to get there so excellent care you can't access is just the same as bad care you can't access.
Now I assume that the access issues will follow the BRAC and patients will have the same issues in Bethesda, only this time doubled.

22 I had a hernia operation there, and another one (other side) a few years later at Fort Riley.  Walter Reed had the best medical care I ever had.

Part of the reason, I've been told by folks in the Army Medical community, for its closing is that it's in a "bad part of town."  I don't remember it being that bad when I went there, but lots of the surroundings wasn't the best of areas even then.

An outcropping of the Walter Reed bad press on wounded soldier care was the creation of Warrior Transition Units at many military treatment facilities.  These WTUs were intended to provide careful monitoring of wounded soldiers' care, return to duty, or transition to civilian life.  However, at an Army post near where I live, the WTU has almost a one-to-one correlation of Cadre to Wounded Warrior.  And most (according to my sources within the unit) most of the Wounded Warriors (upwards of 90 percent) are actually sick or injured (not *wounded*).  In fact, many of them have never served in a combat zone.  They are there because of "normal" illnesses or injuries not necessarily related to combat or serving in a combat zone (think knee problems from playing softball).  Initially, many were activated Guard and Reserve personnel who were in pretty bad medical shape when they were activated. 

Plus, to ensure their care is managed properly, the "Wounded Warriors" are given Army-funded cellphones for their use (personal and official business).  Also, at least originally, each WW barrack room was provided an internet connection and a gaming system, plus a big-screen TV (again paid for by Uncle Sugar).

As with many well-meaning programs, the WTU (and, nationally the Warrior Transition Command) has become  a money pit.  Good intent, but you know what's paved with good intentions. 

23 Excellent blog, thanks for the share. I'll be a regular viewer.