Walter Reed National Military Medical Center The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ( WRNMMC ) , formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital , is a tri - service military medical center located in the community of Bethesda , Maryland , near the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health . It is one of the most prominent U . S . military medical centers in the Washington , D . C . metropolitan area and the United States , having served numerous U . S . presidents since the 20th century . History as the National Naval Medical Center ( 1940 – 2011 ) . Early history . In 1938 , the United States Congress appropriated funds for the acquisition of land for the construction of a new Naval medical center , and President Franklin D . Roosevelt selected the present site in Bethesda , Maryland , on July 5 , 1938 . Ground was broken by John McShain Builders for the Naval Medical Center on June 29 , 1939 by Rear Admiral Percival S . Rossiter , MC , USN , ( Ret . ) . President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Tower on Armistice Day , November 11 , 1940 . The original Medical Center was composed of the Naval Hospital , designed to hold 1 , 200 beds , and the Naval Medical School , the Naval Dental School ( now the National Naval Dental Center ) and the Naval Medical Research Institute . In 1945 , at the end of World War II , temporary buildings were added to accommodate up to 2 , 464 wounded American sailors and marines . Kennedy assassination . In November 1963 , the autopsy of U . S . President John F . Kennedy was performed at Bethesda . On November 22 , 1963 , President Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas , Texas with his wife , Jacqueline , Texas Governor John Connally , and his wife , Nellie . The wounded president was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital , where he was pronounced dead . The Parkland doctors and local coroner insisted that they perform the autopsy , since he had been murdered in Dallas County . However , with concern for the security of the new president , Lyndon B . Johnson , the Secret Service demanded that the assassinated president ' s body would be taken to Washington , D . C . immediately aboard Air Force One . This decision was made to overrule Texas law . An autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital during the evening of November 22 , 1963 . The manner in which the autopsy was conducted and photographic analysis of it have become the subject of controversy . U . S . Presidential visits to NNMC . When NNMC was dedicated in 1942 , its original intention was to provide medical care to military personnel only . But since Franklin D . Roosevelt had paralysis of his lower extremities , the medical center immediately offered to provide the President with any medicine or treatment necessary to keep him physically fit for the presidency . With that , an official White House doctor was appointed by the President to sort out medical issues with him . Since FDR , most presidents have used a military hospital close to Washington , D . C . , either Bethesda or Walter Reed AMC , as the primary facility for them and their immediate family to receive medical care . Each president pays for any of his medical expenses personally . Franklin D . Roosevelt selected the site of the hospital , laid the cornerstone , and made formal dedication remarks at the hospitals opening on November 11 , 1940 . Ronald Reagan , on July 13 , 1985 , underwent surgery to remove polyps from his ( anatomy ) . He sent a letter transferring power to then vice president George H . W . Bush , deliberately invoking the Acting President clause of the 25th Amendment , and on January 5 , 1987 , Reagan underwent surgery for prostate cancer which caused further worries about his health . At this time , Reagan was 76 years old . First Lady Nancy Reagan , on October 17 , 1987 , underwent a mastectomy due to breast cancer . Modernization . In August 1960 , a $ 5 . 6 million expansion project was initiated and consisted of two five - story wings attached to the main building ' s east side . Completed in the summer of 1963 , Buildings 7 and 8 provided space for 258 beds and replaced the World War II temporary ward buildings . In January 1973 , the mission of the Naval Medical Center was modified to include the provision : " to provide coordinated dispensary health care services as an integral element of the Naval Regional Health Care System , including shore activities , as may be assigned . " This change established the National Naval Medical Center Region and placed all naval health care facilities within the Naval District Washington under the authority of the commanding officer of the Medical Center . The new inpatient buildings and the Naval Medical Center were consolidated into one command on September 1 , 1973 , to form National Naval Medical Center . In 1975 , an extensive renovation began which included the construction of two new buildings : Building 9 , a three - story outpatient structure , and Building 10 , a seven - story , 500 bed inpatient facility , with a combined area of more than 880 , 000 square feet ( 82 , 000 m² ) . In 1979 , the remaining temporary buildings were replaced with a multi - level staff - parking garage . This addition made National Naval Medical Center one of the largest medical facilities in the country . The original Naval Medical Center tower was since listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U . S . Department of the Interior . History ( 2011 - present ) . WRNMMC serves as the location of the headquarters for Joint Task Force National Capital Region / Medical , a tri - service task force providing command and control for most medical treatment facilities in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , West Virginia and New Jersey . The WRNMMC continues to provide all the services it provided as NNMC , having additionally absorbed many departments and services from WRAMC . Merger and consolidation plan . In accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations , an Office of Integration ( OI ) was formed in November 2005 to oversee the merger of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center ( WRAMC ) and the National Naval Medical Center ( NNMC ) . That merged facility will be staffed by Army , Navy , and Air Force medical personnel and will be the core of an integrated military medicine system in the National Capital Region ( NCR ) . What in 2005 were three medical centers , a small community hospital , and 19 clinics offering medical care to military beneficiaries in the NCR will become , with oversight of the OI , a single tri - service medical center , a large tri - service hospital in Northern Virginia , and 20 area clinics . Groundbreaking took place on July 3 , 2008 , with President George W . Bush officiating . NNMC was rechristened Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on September 14 , 2011 , shortly after the closing of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center .