WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- The realignment of the four military hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area is on pace to meet target dates, a top military healthcare leader said.
Navy Vice Adm. John M. Mateczun, commander of Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical, also said more than 9,400 medical personnel and patients are expected to finish moving by the end of August, Army News Service reported Wednesday.
The Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005 required the Pentagon to combine four in-patient hospitals in the national capital region -- Walter Reed, the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., DeWitt Army Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Joint Base Andrews, Md. -- while retaining the same patient care capacity.
The changes include transferring Walter Reed Army Medical Center's functions to Bethesda and building a new hospital at Fort Belvoir.
Mateczun said military medical officials are concentrating on three areas of priority throughout the process.
"One is quality of care -- all of the patient care that we're providing," Mateczun said.
The second focus is being placed on the wounded, ill and injured service members currently receiving medical care, he said.
The third area of priority is "the capacity to take care of the wounded, ill and injured who are returning now from Iraq and Afghanistan as we do these moves," Mateczun said.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, opened for 102 years, will close its doors Sept. 15. The Pentagon said a ceremony to case the colors of all Walter Reed activities will be July 27.
