People Medical Army Walter Limited Mobility United Reed

The United States Army has many hospitals, but the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. is the most well known "facility" (large building). It is only for people who are "serving" (working) in the "military" (the people and organizations who fight for the United States) and people who have "retired" (stopped working in old age) from the military.

The "site" (place; location) has been a hospital since 1898 and used to have a "bed capacity" (space for a specific number of patients) of only 80 patients. Since then, it has grown significantly. The Medical Center now has 5,500 rooms, with "room" (space) for more than 150,000 "patients" (sick or injured people who are being treated by a doctor). It was named after an army "physician" (doctor) named Walter Reed, who discovered that yellow fever was "transmitted" (shared among people) by "mosquitoes" (small insects).

In 2007, there was a "scandal" (something that surprises people in a bad way) about the Medical Center. The Washington Post, the most popular newspaper in Washington, D.C., "broke a story" (was the first to report) about "neglect" at the facility, where patients were not being treated well, the building was "deteriorating" (falling apart; becoming worse), and there were many "bureaucratic nightmares," where families had to speak with a lot of people and do a lot of paperwork to get treatment for their loved ones.

However, in general, Walter Reed provides valuable medical care for many "soldiers" (people who fight in the military) who have been "wounded" (injured) while serving their country.