Up to $197M to Whiting-Turner for Construction of Walter Reed Facilities
Whiting-Turner Contracting in Baltimore, MD won a $181 million firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of support facilities for a warrior transition unit (WTU) at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The work includes the construction of a new bachelor enlisted barracks/dining/administrative facility, physical fitness center, parking garage, and restoration of National Naval Medical Center Building 17 façade.
This contract also contains 1 unexercised option, which, if exercised, would increase the contract value to $197 million. Whiting-Turner expects to complete construction by August 2011. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with 13 proposals received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington in Washington, DC (N40080-09-C-0018).
The US Department of Defense is building the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center to accommodate the move of Walter Reed Army Medical Center activities in Washington, DC, to Bethesda as required by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) report…
BRAC recommended the relocation [PDF] of certain Walter Reed Army Medical Center activities and the establishment of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Construction of the new 345-bed facility, which began in July 2008, is expected to cost $970 million.
The BRAC law requires construction of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as well as a new 120-bed community hospital at Fort Belvoir, VA, be completed by Sept 15/11.
The WTU being built at Walter Reed is one of many WTUs set up by the US Army since 2007. The WTUs provide support to wounded soldiers – who are expected to require 6 months of rehabilitative care and the need for complex medical management – and their families. The units have physicians, nurses, squad leaders, platoon sergeants, and mental health professionals. These leaders are responsible for making sure wounded soldiers’ needs are met, their care is coordinated, and their families are taken care of.
The WTU caseload doubled from 6,000 in 2007 to 12,000 in 2008. The WTU system has reformed how the Army cares for wounded soldiers and continues to update policies and increase staff to meet the needs of soldiers and their families.