Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center ( WRAMC ) was — along with its precursor , the Walter Reed General Hospital — the U . S . Army ' s flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011 . Located on 113 acres ( 457 , 000 m² ) in Washington , D . C . , it served more than 150 , 000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military . The center was named after Major Walter Reed ( 1851 – 1902 ) , an army physician who led the team that confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquito es rather than direct contact . Since its origins , the WRAMC medical care facility grew from a bed capacity of 80 patients to approximately 5 , 500 rooms covering more than 28 acres ( 113 , 000 m² ) of floor space . WRAMC combined with the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda , Maryland in 2011 to form the tri - service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ( WRNMMC ) . History . Origins at Fort McNair . Fort Lesley J . McNair , located in southwest Washington , D . C . on land set aside by George Washington as a military reservation , is the third oldest U . S . Army installation in continuous use in the United States after West Point and Carlisle Barracks . Its position at the confluence of the Anacostia River and the Potomac River made it an excellent site for the defense of the nation ' s capital . Dating back to 1791 , the post served as an arsenal , played an important role in the nation ’ s defense , and housed the first U . S . Federal Penitentiary from 1839 to 1862 . Today , Fort McNair enjoys a strong tradition as the intellectual headquarters for defense . Furthermore , with unparalleled vistas of the picturesque waterfront and the opposing Virginia shoreline , the historic health clinic at Fort McNair , the precursor of today ' s Walter Reed Army Medical Center ( WRAMC ) , overlooks the residences of top officials who choose the famed facility for the delivery of their health care needs . " Walter Reed ' s Clinic , " the location of the present day health clinic at Washington D . C . , occupies what was from 1898 until 1909 the General Hospital at what was then Washington Barracks , long before the post was renamed in honor of Lt . Gen . McNair who was killed in Normandy in 1944 by friendly fire . The hospital served as the forerunner of Walter Reed General Hospital ; however , the Victorian era waterfront dispensary remains and is perhaps one of America ' s most historically significant military medical treatment facilities . It is reported that Walter Reed lived and worked in the facility when he was assigned as Camp Surgeon from 1881 to 1882 . After having served on other assignments , he returned as Professor of Medicine and Curator of the Army Medical Museum . Some of his epidemiological work included studies at Washington Barracks , and he is best known for discovering the transmission of yellow fever . In 1902 , Major Reed underwent emergency surgery here for appendicitis and died of complications in this U . S . Army Medical Treatment Facility ( MTF ) , within the very walls of what became his final military duty assignment . Regarding the structure itself , since the 1890s the health clinic was used as an Army General Hospital where physicians , corpsmen and nurses were trained in military health care . In 1899 , the morgue was constructed which now houses the Dental Clinic , and in 1901 the hospital became an entirely separate command . This new organizational command relocated eight years later with the aide of horse drawn wagons and an experimental steam driven ambulance in 1909 . Departing from the 50 - bed hospital , as documented in The Army Nursing Newsletter , Volume 99 , Issue 2 , February 2000 , they set out due north transporting with them 11 patients initially to the new 65 - bed facility in the northern aspect of the capital . Having departed Ft . McNair , the organization has since developed into the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that we know today . As for the facility they left behind at Fort McNair , it functioned in a smaller role as a post hospital until 1911 when the west wing was converted into a clinic . Today , this renovated medical treatment facility at Fort McNair continues its rich , uninterrupted heritage in providing a wide variety of state - of - the - art health care to the capital region military community as an extension of WRAMC . Walter Reed General Hospital and WRAMC . Congressional legislation appropriated $ 192 , 000 for the construction of Walter Reed General Hospital ( WRGH , now known as " Building 1 " ) , and the first ten patients were admitted on May 1 , 1909 . Lieutenant Colonel William Cline Borden was the initiator , planner and effective mover for the creation , location , and first Congressional support of the Medical Center . Due to his efforts , the facility was nicknamed " Borden ' s Dream . " In 1923 , General John J . Pershing signed the War Department order creating the " Army Medical Center " ( AMC ) within the same campus as the WRGH . ( At this time , the Army Medical School was relocated from 604 Louisiana Avenue and became the " Medical Department Professional Service School " ( MDPSS ) in the new Building 40 . ) Pershing lived at Walter Reed from 1944 until his death there July 15 , 1948 . In September 1951 , " General Order Number 8 " combined the WRGH with the AMC ; the entire complex of 100 rose - brick Georgian buildings was at that time renamed the " Walter Reed Army Medical Center " ( WRAMC ) . In June 1955 , the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology ( AFIP ) occupied the new Building 54 and , in November , what had been MDPSS was renamed the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research ( WRAIR ) . 1964 saw the birth of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing ( WRAIN ) . Former President Dwight D . Eisenhower died at WRAMC on March 28 , 1969 . Starting in 1972 , a huge new WRAMC building ( Building 2 ) was constructed and made ready for occupation by 1977 . WRAIR moved from Building 40 to a large new facility on the WRAMC Forest Glen Annex in Maryland in 1999 . Subsequently , Building 40 was slated for renovation under an enhanced use lease by a private developer . In 2007 , the University of Pennsylvania and WRAMC established a partnership whereby proton therapy technology would be available to treat United States military personnel and veterans in the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine ' s new Roberts Proton Therapy Center . 2007 neglect scandal . In February 2007 , " The Washington Post " published a series of investigative articles outlining cases of alleged neglect ( physical deterioration of housing quarters outside hospital grounds , bureaucratic nightmares , etc . ) at WRAMC as reported by outpatient soldiers and their family members . A scandal and media furor quickly developed resulting in the firing of the WRAMC commanding general Maj . Gen . George W . Weightman , the resignation of Secretary of the Army Francis J . Harvey ( reportedly at the request of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ) , the forced resignation of Lt . Gen . Kevin C . Kiley , commander from 2002 to 2004 , congressional committee hearings , and commentary from numerous politicians including President George W . Bush and Vice - President Dick Cheney . Several independent governmental investigations are ongoing and the controversy has spread to other military health facilities and the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system . 2005 BRAC recommendation and 2011 closure . As part of a Base Realignment and Closure announcement on May 13 , 2005 , the Department of Defense proposed replacing Walter Reed " Army " Medical Center with a new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ( WRNMMC ) ; the new center would be on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda , Maryland , seven miles ( 11 km ) from WRAMC ' s current location in Washington , D . C . The proposal is part of a program to transform medical facilities into joint facilities , with staff including Army , Navy , and Air Force medical personnel . On August 25 , 2005 , the BRAC Committee recommended passage of the plans for the WRNMMC . The transfer of services from the existing to the new facilities was gradual to allow for continuity of care for the thousands of service members , retirees and family members that depended upon WRAMC . The end of operations at the WRAMC facility occurred on August 27 , 2011 . The Army says the cost of closing that hospital and consolidating it with Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland more than doubled to $ 2 . 6 billion since the plan was announced in 2005 by the Base Realignment and Closing Commission ( BRAC ) . Tenants . In addition to the WRAMC hospital complex , the WRAMC installation hosted a number of other related activities and organizations .