Supporters from the D.C chapter of Free Republic send off the final patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday.
Posted on 09/02/2011 12:26:04 PM PDT by Drango
September 2, 2011
There's a lot of good sense behind closing two famous and nearby military hospitals and merging them into the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. But just looking at the name reveals both what's good about this merger and what makes it so tricky.
Walter Reed was a famous Army doctor, and for more than a century his name was on the Army's iconic hospital in Washington, D.C. Now that hospital is shutting its doors, and Reed's name will go onto the new hospital built on the Navy's flagship medical campus in Bethesda, Md., 6 miles away.
It's a bit like merging the Yankees and the Red Sox and then making them play in "Derek Jeter Fenway Park." Yankees fans and Red Sox Nation would never go for it — but it might make a great baseball team.
That's the sort of potential behind the new, jointly operated Army and Navy hospital. With bright new buildings and the latest technology, the new hospital promises better care to service members, veterans and injured troops from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But the Army and Navy each have their own proud traditions. So bridging those separate, and often competing, cultures will be the key to truly offering better medical care.
A 'World-Class Standard' Of Care?
The possibilities of the merger are clear when Cmdr. Blair Miles gives a tour of one of the spacious new operating suits. The scanners and computers are attached to long booms that extend down from the ceiling.
"This is going to be the neuro room," Miles says. "It's a hybrid room, and it's a biplane room, so that's why you see the two C-arms." That's a lot of jargon for the new equipment here. The point is: This operating room has all of the latest technology.
~SNIP (go to the link
Supporters from the D.C chapter of Free Republic send off the final patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday.
Good job DC chapter. And thank you to all the military men and women who serve.
Simple: The Navy posthumously commissions Reed as an O-12 and names the place “Admiral Walter Reed Hospital;” everybody’s happy. ;^)
Whoops, O-10.
Thank you FReepers for being there for me.
WTG DC Freepers!
Thanks again to the DC chapter!
I bet that NPR photographer was terrified that those FR ‘terrorists’ were going to beat her up or shoot her.
Why do they need the word “national”? Isn’t that a given?
You is good people, DC FReepers! God Bless all of you, and all who stood at Walter Reed these past years in support of our military.
Ask anyone about year end spending to "insure we don't lose our budget" Ask anyone about the great hospitals like Brook ARmy and you know what is possible, but it is not possible to do that two or three times in an area the size of Bethesda/Dc. /it is not a rant it is a wish for change a
Are they merging the “Embrace the Sodomy” training as well. I’ve heard the Navy’s program is much more enthusiastic than that of the Army or Marine Corps.
This is great that FR is seen there, because I am afraid Zero is paying lip service to Veterans’ preferences when it comes to getting jobs or benefits as future government workers. Right now his staffing for green peace jobs and his non attendance at the VFW is a glaring threat record of that.
VEterans need to be aware that they are threatened by this cult of Zero and that others show their support on the other hand, and not just some Zero “thank you” note while attacking them on the flank.
Ping!
They're military doctors and professionals. Something tells me NPR's analogy is full of Obama.
Drango - Thanks for finding and posting. We were wondering how NPR would handle us being there. Apparently from their story, FR fared better than their accounting of how the Army and Navy will get along.
DC CHAPTER MASTER PING LIST -
NPR mentions DC Chapter.
DC Chapter members pictured are PrezUSA222, VictoryNY and [Mrs] Trooprally at the gate talking to the Garrison Commander.
[Mr] T
Thanks for the ping. DC Chapter has been pinged.
Kburi's AAR for that morning. We occupied all 4 corners.
Kristinn's post from the Army News Service
[Mr] T
Seems to me that this is all that really matters.
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