For Walter Reed Hospital, the End of an Era

Over the last century, Walter Reed Army Medical Center has served as the flagship military medical facility in the United States, but on Thursday, it closed its doors for the last time.

In a move planned since 2005, the last inpatients at the hospital were transferred at the end of August. Bethesda Naval Hospital will now become Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Walter Reed hospital first opened in 1909. Since then, its patients have included wounded war veterans and heads of state. President Dwight D. Eisenhower died at the hospital in March 1969 after an 11-month stay and Richard Nixon was treated there during his time as vice president. Leaders and celebrities often made high-profile visits to military patients at Walter Reed.

View a slide show of the hospital’s high and low points, including the 2007 Washington Post investigation that brought poor conditions at the facility to light: