GlobeSt.com UPDATE: BRAC Could Affect Local Military Hospital Properties

WASHINGTON, DC- Last week’s announcement of recommendations for the US Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure program for 2005 has revealed plans for changes to the department’s health system in the Metropolitan Washington, DC region. Certain bases in the area will be realigned in an effort to consolidate patient care sites and create more advanced medical facilities. The changes will effect four area installations, and will result in a reported $1 billion in new construction.

As part of the medical facilities realignment endeavor, Washington, DC’s 260-bed Walter Reed Army Medical Center will shutter its doors and in turn, the 300-bed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center will be developed on the site of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD. The move will leave Walter Reed’s 113-acre home in DC vacant, freeing up space in a city. Additionally, a 165-bed community hospital will be erected at the Army’s Fort Belvoir in Fort Belvoir, VA. The Defense Department’s medical facility plan also calls for the transformation of in-patient services space at Andrews Air Force Base’s Malcolm Grow Hospital in Andrews Air Force Base, MD into an out-patient clinic.