Articles

Feb. 12, 2026

Clearing the vision barrier: Inside Walter Reed’s refractive surgery program

BETHESDA, Md. — As a U.S. Naval Academy midshipman in the early 1980s, Dr. Joseph Pasternak missed his chance to fly by a single line on the eye chart. He could see well with glasses, but the rule then was more unforgiving than it is now: U.S. Navy pilots needed to see 20/20 without them.

Feb. 11, 2026

Walter Reed’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program graduates look forward to caring for warriors and families

BETHESDA, Md. — First Lts. Alexandra Minth, U.S. Army, and Payton Quinnell, U.S. Air Force, donned their white coats Jan. 30 at the National Mall, becoming the most recent graduates of the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP).

Feb. 9, 2026

Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed hosts Blood Cancer Summit

BETHESDA, Md. — Cancer care is a readiness mission, and that guided discussions as the John P. Murtha Cancer Center (MCC) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Department of War’s only Center of Excellence for Cancer Care and Research, hosted its Blood Cancer Summit recently at the hospital.

Feb. 4, 2026

Walter’s Way: Results Highlight Benefits of Proactive Scheduling Model

BETHESDA, Md. — Months after proactive booking was introduced at Walter Reed National Medical Military Center, early results show the approach is improving how specialty care referrals are processed, scheduled and managed across multiple departments.

Jan. 28, 2026

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month: Walter Reed Has the Treatment

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD — Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States. It is an umbrella term for diseases characterized by a common end state of optic nerve loss. Optic nerve fibers create a “highway,” sending visual input from the eye to the brain and when “lanes” on the highway close, you get glaucoma. The disease usually starts by closing the highway’s outer lanes, leading to loss of peripheral vision. Over time, it can work its way toward the center lane, causing permanent loss of the center of the visual field.

Jan. 26, 2026

Walter’s Way: Provider Leadership Driving Patient Access

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD — Walter’s Way did not begin as a finished program. It began as a provider-led vision shaped by multiple clinicians, including Deputy Director for Medical Services U.S. Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Simmons, one of the original leaders who helped spearhead the model at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Jan. 22, 2026

Extraordinary Teamwork: How Walter Reed and the National Institutes of Health Collaborated to Give a Cancer Patient Hope

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD — Alessandro Colombo, a 48-year-old IT consultant, began treatment for a rare form of urachal bladder cancer in his native Italy. However, when his doctors discovered the tumor had turned metastatic, they had no standard treatment to offer him beyond chemotherapy.

Jan. 21, 2026

Cervical Health Awareness: Walter Reed Provides Comprehensive Women’s Health Services

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD — Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) offers Military Health System (MHS) beneficiaries access to “a comprehensive suite of women’s health services supporting cervical health maintenance, [disease] prevention, early detection, and management of related issues,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kristen Bunch, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Center of Excellence at WRNMMC. Bunch also serves as director of Fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology for the National Capital Consortium, which includes graduate medical education programs at military medical treatment facilities throughout the National Capital Region (NCR).

Jan. 20, 2026

The Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed Receives Commission on Cancer Accreditation Certificate

Walter Reed National Medical Military Center, BETHESDA, MD — The John P. Murtha Cancer Center (MCC) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has officially received its Commission on Cancer (CoC) accreditation certificate, marking the successful completion of its re-accreditation process that was finalized in February 2025.

Jan. 14, 2026

A new year, why not a new you with a focus on exercise, nutrition, mental health?

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD — It's a new year, so why not a new you?