Community Health Nursing
Army Community Health Nursing provides a wide range of population-based programs and services that promote the health and readiness of all beneficiaries. Major services include communicable disease surveillance (control of tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and other communicable diseases; disease reporting; contact investigation; and epidemic control), community health consultation, maternal and child health, and health promotion.

Community health nurses serve as the health consultant for Child and Youth Services. Services include classes in communicable diseases, SIDS, special health procedures, and administering medications; evaluating children with special needs for child care placement, and health inspections of CYDS facilities.

Maternal and child health programs include pregnancy fitness and education, breast-feeding support, child safety education, and new parent education. Limited home visits are available.

Community Health Nursing is a part of the Preventive Medicine Service and is in Bldg. 1 (old hospital), Room B-301. Open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone (202) 782-3964.

Dental Clinic
The Hospital Dental Clinic is in Area 1-D on the first floor of Bldg. 2 (main hospital). The clinic offers active-duty service members a full range of diagnostic, consultative and restorative dental services, including comprehensive general dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, pedodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, and oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Open Monday through Friday from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone (202) 782-6815. For emergencies after regular duty hours, call the Walter Reed Emergency Department at (202) 782-1199 or 3927.

Eligibility for Medical Care
The Military Installation Identification Card Issuance Activity establishes an individual’s eligibility for medical care in military facilities. The facility commander will confirm the patient’s identity and eligibility, and verify entitlement through DEERS, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or by identification card verification.

Everyone, including Soldiers in uniform, must show satisfactory evidence of their eligibility status. A valid ID card and enrollment in DEERS will establish eligibility. Children under 10 must be enrolled in DEERS, but are not routinely issued an ID card.

Those eligible for medical care at Walter Reed include active-duty service members, their family members, retired service members and their family members.

Those who are not eligible for care can be treated only for emergencies, in the Emergency Department, and must pay for treatment. In addition to the above patient categories, a few others are eligible for care as allowed by Army regulations. The Patient Administration Directorate, Bldg. 2 (main hospital), Room 2D01, validates all questionable cases.

Emergency and Operational Medicine
Emergency and Operational Medicine is composed of the Emergency Department and Emergency Medical Services. Besides its daily clinical focus, the service also specializes in preparation for response to chemical or biological incidents and other weapons of mass destruction. The military staff takes part in all emergency-preparedness exercises in the region to ensure Walter Reed’s readiness for mass casualty situations.

The Emergency Department provides emergency care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to all patients who need treatment. All physicians are board certified in emergency medicine, and the nursing staff has special training and experience in emergency nursing care. Consultants from all medical specialties are available when an Emergency Department staff physician requests them.

The department’s Chest Pain Unit allows the staff to evaluate suspected heart disease faster and more accurately in urgent situations without transferring the patient from the Emergency Department to other areas of the hospital.

Emergency Medical Services provides Basic Life Support services and responds to all callers requesting an ambulance on the Walter Reed installation. All staff members are nationally registered emergency medical technicians and carry modern equipment, including automatic external defibrillators, to treat sudden cardiac death.

EMS provides inter-facility transfers from Walter Reed and helps coordinate patient transport to Walter Reed, within Army policy restrictions. EMS also coordinates patient care and ambulance support for air evacuation missions. For more information, phone (202) 782-1199 or 3928.

Occupational Health Clinic
The Occupational Health program promotes health and reduces the risk of illness arising from the individual-job relationship. This includes preventive medical surveillance for both military and civilian staff members who are exposed to toxic materials, infectious agents, noise or visual hazards, or other harmful influences of the work environment.

Occupational Health Services also provides treatment of occupational illness and injury, entry-on-duty examinations, birth-month annual review services, reproductive-hazards examinations, health counseling for individuals or groups, and work-site inspections.

The clinic is in Bldg. 2, third floor, Wing E. Open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone (202) 782-3611 or 3668. After clinic hours, any Walter Reed civilian employee may receive emergency health care in the hospital Emergency Department.

Pharmacy
The Department of Pharmacy is in Bldg. 2 (main hospital). Both the Ambulatory Care Pharmacy and Pharmacy Supply & Support Services are on the first floor. Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Informatics are on the second floor. The Acute Care Pharmacy is on the second floor and Critical Care Pharmacy on the fourth floor. The Clinical Pharmacy Service is on the sixth floor. The Hematology-Oncology Pharmacy, Nuclear Pharmacy, and Clinical Research Pharmacy are all on the seventh floor.

Walter Reed now offers prescription refills on its Web site, www.wramc.army.mil, and by phone at (800) 248-6337. For general pharmacy information, phone (202) 782-6121 or 6122.

Sick Call
We highly encourage service members to make an appointment with their primary-care provider or another provider by calling Patient Appointments first at (202) 782-7761.

If an appointment is not available promptly, sick call for active-duty service members takes place takes place in the General Internal Medicine Clinic on the first floor of Bldg. 2 (main hospital), Area 1-B, Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Service members should bring their ID card and medical records with them. Enlisted service members in the grade of E-6 and below should bring a sick slip from their company headquarters or duty section except in emergencies. Officers and noncommissioned officers in the grade of E-7 and above should notify their supervisor before reporting to sick call.

Patients who are assigned to Walter Reed and have chronic or non-acute problems should make a non-urgent appointment to be seen by their primary care manager in General Internal Medicine by calling (202) 782-7761.

Emergencies will be seen in the Emergency Department at any time. Phone (202) 782-1199.

Veterinary Clinic
The Walter Reed Veterinary Treatment Facility is available for the care of privately owned animals belonging to active-duty service members, retirees and those authorized for medical care under the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. The facility is in Bldg. 156 at Forest Glen and offers care by appointment only. Limited services are also available at Fort Detrick.

Care includes immunizations, health certificates, treatment of zoonotic (transmissible to humans) conditions, and limited sick-call appointments. No hospitalization or boarding facilities are available. Call (301) 295-7643 for information and appointments.

Wellness Services
The “Prevention Is PRIME“ Wellness Services offers a variety of multi-disciplinary health promotion and health education programs led by qualified providers from Community Health Nursing, Family and Internal Medicine, Medical Nutrition Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy and Psychology.

Enrollees can receive their TRICARE Prime health promotion benefit from this staff that is ready to help them identify their risk factors, address their personal health practices, respond to their bodies’ warning signs, participate in preventive interventions, and enhance their self-care skills.

‘‘Prevention Is PRIME” Wellness Services provides both individual and group instruction for health promotion, prevention, and disease management.

Wellness Services is in Bldg. 2 (main hospital), Ward 73. Open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone (202) 782-0907 or 1773.