The new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, on the grounds of the Navy's campus in Bethesda, Md., combines two flagship military hospitals in an effort to improve patient care. Combining two institutions with their own long — and separate — cultures and history won't be easy.

(Image credit: Maggie Starbard)

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center is famous for treating both presidents and soldiers. But the institution is also a longtime leader in the fight to develop vaccines, including one against malaria — something many thought wasn't possible. That vaccine is currently in a large-scale human trial in Africa.

(Image credit: Tony Karumba)

Long a model for top-notch care for presidents and soldiers alike, Walter Reed Army Medical Center became a byword for bureaucratic bungling in 2007. Army officials are still addressing the failures revealed by an investigation that found wounded soldiers left to fend for themselves.

Washington is poised to take over a large chunk of valuable land after the Walter Reed Army Medical Center closes. There are many proposals for how to use it — from dog parks to retail space. But none of the ideas is likely to happen anytime soon.

The last doctors and patients are leaving Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is closing after more than 100 years of reshaping military medicine. For patients like Lt. Tyson Quink, the historic hospital in Washington, D.C., is where he's rebuilding his body, and his life.

(Image credit: Becky Lettenberger)

For more than 100 years, Walter Reed Medical Center has served thousands of service members. Along the way, it helped change the face of military medicine.

When Walter Reed was slated for closure back in 1995, the goals were to improve care for the wounded, and to save money. The final patients left this past week. So was shutting the base a good deal for taxpayers? The cost of closing it has tripled.

(Image credit: Mark Wilson)