Patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland were referred elsewhere last month for surgeries, and another 212 have had their care deferred as a result of a failure in the facility's steam plant and flooding that ruined more than 50 rooms.
The problems at the U.S. military's flagship facility began more than two weeks ago when temperatures plummeted to the low teens in the Washington, D.C., region.
According to a Jan. 31 information paper sent to members of the media from Walter Reed, a steam leak in mid-January and issues with the medical center's aging steam plant disrupted operations at the department that sterilizes surgical equipment, forcing the facility to move 56 cases to other military hospitals and Tricare network hospitals in the region.
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Failure of the sterilization system also caused the facility to defer 212 procedures and rely on sterilization processes at facilities including the National Institutes of Health; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and Andrews Air Force Base and Fort Meade in Maryland for equipment used in what continues to be a limited number of emergency procedures at Walter Reed.
The Washington Post, which first reported the problems at the medical center on Friday, cited sources that said while Walter Reed usually conducts about 40 surgeries a day, that number is now down to the single digits as a result.
"The primary mission of this place is to be ready to take care of people who get seriously injured supporting combat operations. ... And we cannot do that right now," the paper quoted a source as saying.
Concurrently with the steam plant failure, a sprinkler pipe burst Jan. 20 on the top floor of one of the facility's central buildings, dumping 60,000 gallons of water into five other buildings, including the installation's iconic tower, an Art Deco-style hospital designed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
The specific cause of the leak "is still unknown," but "unseasonably cold weather and the age of physical plant facilities likely contributed to the leak," according to the information paper.
The water damage affected more than 50 rooms, five elevators and 11 hallways.
In a separate statement Friday, the Defense Health Agency said the staff has been "working diligently around the clock" to address the issues, funding emergency work orders and contracts, and minimizing disruptions to patient care.
"This acute issue is being managed aggressively to ensure patient care continues to be delivered safely," officials wrote in the statement.
The installation that houses the medical center, Naval Support Activity Bethesda, dates to 1942, when the National Naval Medical Center began accepting patients, but many of the buildings that house medical services are new or have been renovated in the past 20 years.
In 2011, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, roughly four miles southeast of the Bethesda hospital, moved its patients to the facility, creating the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a joint medical center that treats service members from all branches of the armed forces.
It was the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center that was the subject of a major scandal in 2007 over the deplorable state of housing and treatment of wounded service members from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But as recently as 2022, the current Walter Reed National Military Medical Center also drew criticism for conditions of its barracks, with junior enlisted personnel reporting that their housing had not had hot water or air conditioning for more than two years, according to Navy Times.
Of the recent flooding and system failures, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the situation was unacceptable.
"This is a result of deferred maintenance under the last administration," Hegseth wrote on the social media platform X Friday. "My staff is prioritizing fixing this, and under this president, our troops will only receive the best care."
The Defense Health Agency has allocated $806,000 in emergency funding to support cleanup and restoration efforts, which are ongoing. It could take up to six weeks for the hospital to return to full operations, according to the agency.
According to facility officials, retail stores and fast food restaurants along the hospital's "Main Street" have reopened for business, and surgical teams are working to "maximize the number of cases that can be done at outlying sites," including Fort Belvoir.
Repairs have been completed at one ward and in the neonatal intensive care unit, and the hospital is no longer diverting labor and delivery services.
"At no time was patient care compromised," DHA officials said in a statement.
