National Naval Medical Center
The National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) is the flagship of Navy Medicine and a world-renowned, state-of-the-art health care institution. It is the “President’s Hospital,” serving those who have worn the cloth of the nation, their families and our nation’s leaders, and provide the same exceptional care to each and every person that enters our doors.
At 20-stories high, the historical landmark tower of the National Naval Medical Center stands as tall as its history.
On a cross-country campaign trip in 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was impressed when he saw the state capitol building in Lincoln, Neb. It had a high, narrow tower, flanked by vast stretches of two-story wings. “Someday I will build a government building like that,” he said. And on Dec. 13, 1937, using White House stationary, the president sketched an elevation and ground plan that became the guide for the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
In 1938, Congress appropriated funds for the acquisition of land in or around the District of Columbia for the construction of a new naval medical center. President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the present site on July 5, 1938. The site was little more than a cabbage patch on a rundown 247-foot farm, an area where President Theodore Roosevelt used to ride his horses through the countryside. When the president saw the spring-fed pond, it reminded him of the Biblical “Pool of Bethesda,” a place for healing and renewal. President Roosevelt felt this would be the perfect spot for the center, and so ground was broken by Rear Admiral Percival S. Rossiter, MC, USN, (Ret.). The former surgeon general’s support helped to make the project a reality and President Roosevelt laid the corner stone on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940.
The Naval Medical Center was officially opened with its commissioning February 5, 1942 and the president dedicated the center six months later on August 31, 1942, the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington, D.C.
Initially the center was constructed to have approximately 1,200 beds. However, during World War II, temporary construction increased the capacity and the highest bed census of 2,464 beds was reached in late 1945.
In August of 1960, a $5.6 million expansion project consisting of two, five-story wings attached to the main building’s east side was begun. Completed in the summer of 1963, Buildings 7 and 8 provided for 258 beds and replaced the World War II temporary ward buildings.
In addition to the hospital, 10 tenant commands are on board the complex including the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the nation’s only fully accredited federal school for medicine and graduate nursing education. In December 1980, Buildings 9 and 10, where most clinical services and patients are currently cared for, were opened. President Bush opened the first Fisher House and the original Naval Medical Center tower was deemed a historical landmark and entered into the Registry of Historical Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior in March 1977.
Base Realignment and Closure
Under the 2005 Amendment to the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Law, tertiary and complex care medical services at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center are to be relocated to the National Naval Medical Center and the facility will be renamed the Walter
Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda.
To support the realignment, patient visits to the renovated facility are expected to be approximately double of what the National Naval Medical Center now accommodates. Inpatient capacity will increase from the existing beds to a capacity of 346 beds. Total construction costs are currently estimated at approximately $1 billion and will take three years—from May 2008 to May 2011—to complete.
The medical center will renovate existing buildings to improve the total environment and standard of care. Additional projects are also slated for the campus:
- The Intrepid Center of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress (TBI/PTSD) is being built by the Fisher Foundation.
- A Joint Warrior Transition Unit that will provide outpatient care and patient-family support and education, besides improve the continuum of care for warriors and their families as they return to their units, the VA or civilian rehabilitation centers.
- Bachelor enlisted quarters to billet junior enlisted staff
- Replacement fitness center serving additional patients and staff
- Two more Fisher Houses delivering a home-like reintegration setting and lodging for recovering patients and their families.
- Additional administrative facilities to support the new patients and expanded staff.
The Base Realignment and Closure Law adds approximately 2,500 staff members and about 2.4 million square foot of new or renovated facilities to deliver required additional outpatient and inpatient care.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda will be a tertiary care center. The term tertiary care is most often associated with inpatient services of a complex nature involving specialized fields of medicine. In our health care system, the new tertiary care facility will continue to provide primary and secondary care services such as family health care, obstetrics, pediatrics, mental health, preventive medicine, and medical and surgical specialties it provides today.
New inpatient services will include:
- Bone marrow and organ transplants
- Pediatrics and a pediatric ICU
- Six-bed secured unit
- TBI/PTSD Center of Excellence Ward (not part of BRAC)
- New outpatient services will include:
- Clinics to support above inpatient services
- Amputee care with military advanced training and rehabilitation
- Orthotics lab
- Warrior specialty care
- Physical medicine
- 3-D modeling
- Brain injury and psychological stress disorder acute rehabilitation
- Partial hospitalization adult mental health
- Plus training and research programs in support of above services
Bethesda: The Big Picture Family-Centered Care
Services offered at NNMC are specially designed to promote a “family-centered care” approach to the planning, delivery and evaluation of health care to encourage a total healing partnership among providers, patients, their families and supporters like the warrior units, VA, vocation support and transition to new opportunities. Respect, empowerment, choices and flexibility embody the concept of family-centered care. At NNMC, we recognize emotional and social supports are integral components of quality health care, whether dealing with the birth of a child or a health care issue. We know the family-centered care practice at NNMC leads to better health outcomes and greater patient, family and staff satisfaction.
Executive Health Care for Our Nation’s Leaders
NNMC’s Executive Health Care has brought a new world-class health system care to our nation’s leaders, ensuring availability, flexibility, security and confidentiality at all times. These leaders include the U.S. president, the U.S. vice president, members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. Supreme Court Justices, other federal executives, and our flag and general officers. NNMC’s Executive Health Care Department also provides care for other authorized government officials, beneficiaries, foreign military and embassy personnel who the secretary of the Navy or Defense designates.
Wounded Warrior Care
At the National Naval Medical Center, our wounded heroes are in the trusted hands of an exceptional multidisciplinary, multi-specialty, care team. They and their families are treated with a caring, warm and sincere human touch. They deserve nothing less. Family and military service support are an important part of the care process here at National Naval Medical Center. The Marine Corps Liaison Office and our Casualty Affairs Office work together to make sure our wounded heroes and their families receive helpful information and resources during their loved ones’ recovery process. Recently we have added other military service liaisons and VA personnel to the team. ♦