"All are Welcome to the Healing Plaza"

"All are Welcome to the Healing Plaza". Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This plaza is a tribute to the history and legacy of two great military medical institutions and their contributions to military medicine. Through this garden’s peaceful landscape, sculpture, and memorials, visitors are reminded of our commitment to mission of patient care., On 15 September 2011, Walter Reed Army Medical Center was realigned to the National Naval Medical Center, establishing it as the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. With over 100 years and over 70 years of service to their patients, respectively, and exceptional and lasting contributions to military medicine, while serving as “The President’s Hospital,” these two institutions have joined to form the largest and most comprehensive military medical center. , The namesake for the new medical center, Major Walter Reed, was known for his leadership of the Yellow Fever Board of 1900-01 which firmly established a common domestic mosquito as the carrier of the dreaded yellow fever. This discovery led to its near eradication in a few brief years. He died on 22 November 1902 at the age of 51. On 21 November, a bust of Major Walter Reed, sculpted by artist Felix de Weldon, was dedicated at the Army medical center that bore his name and was moved to its new location in this garden in 2013. , Secured from a façade of the former Senior Enlisted Barracks, Building 12, NNMC which was built in 1941, the U.S. Navy Fouled Anchor bas relief now occupies the plaza’s northern edge, symbolizing the leadership role of “The Chief” in the Navy and Navy Medicine. Building 12 was replaced in 2009 by the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. , Located between the Major Walter Reed bust and the U.S. Navy Fouled Anchor is a special wall memorializing the medical Medal of Honor recipients. Paved alcoves around the plaza perimeter contain our military service emblems. , This healing garden is a visible symbol of the successful integration of the two great medical institutions, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda, MD. We honor our proud legacy, history, and traditions. We recognize, embrace and celebrate the new opportunities for excellence realized by our merging together. What We Do Matters! , Dedicated 28 June 2013.. , Photos on the “Healing Plaza” marker:, (1) The Healing Plaza viewed from the north with the Maj. Walter Reed monument and the Army and Navy Medical Departments’ Medal of Honor recipients’ plaques in the foreground , (2) The original Walter Reed Army General Hospital Building in Washington, D.C., circa 1911. , (3) The U.S. Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Tower Building, circa 1941. , (4) Close-up of the Maj. Walter Reed bust now relocated to the Healing Plaza in Bethesda. , (5) Close-up of the “fouled anchor”, U.S. Navy’s chief petty officer insignia.