Patients & Visitors

Chaplains are on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (301) 295-1510 during normal working hours, Monday through Friday from 0730  to 1600, or via the Command Duty Office at (301) 295-4611 after hours.

Services also include:
• Inpatient Visitation
• Confidential Pastoral Counseling
• Closed-Circuit TV Ministry
• Devotion Line – (301) 295-4055
• Weekly Devotions
• Literature Racks
• Garden of Peace
• Web Site access and communication
• Prayer Requests

Inpatient visits
Chaplains make daily rounds on all inpatient units. They are available for spiritual care, pastoral counseling, prayer, sacraments and other rites.

Ambulatory ministry
Pastoral and spiritual care are available for ambulatory and same-day surgical patients and all Ambulatory Care Clinics. Pre-operative prayer and spiritual care are provided to surgical patients on the Short Stay Unit and in the surgical holding area.

Spiritual Support Groups
Chaplains facilitate a variety of Spiritual Support Groups for special patient groups. These groups bring people together who are experiencing similar issues to promote spiritual and emotional healing.

Referral Services
Chaplains serve on health care teams on every patient unit and are aware of many referral sources. Make the Chaplains' Office your First Stop for help!

Literature and accessories
Devotional literature is available in racks throughout the medical center. At the Main Chaplains' Office, you may also request crosses, rosaries, periodicals and other devotional materials.

Regarding Policy on Patient Access to Religious Material
This statement is to address an email circulating around the internet on Walter Reed Bethesda’s stance on patient access to religious material.

Bibles and other religious materials have always been and will remain available for patient use at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC). The visitation policy as written and dated September 14, 2011 was incorrect. While it should have been more thoroughly reviewed before its release, it was never implemented and had absolutely no impact on patient access to religious items. The September 14, 2011 visitation policy has been rescinded and a new policy was released on January 24, 2012. We apologize for any confusion.

Please know that at admission, all patients are asked for their religious preference and a chaplain associated with their preference visits them regularly to provide spiritual services. In addition, their families may also bring religious material and WRNMMC does not refuse any religious group entrance.

WRNMMC provides multiple venues at WRMNMC for religious expression and worship. There is daily Catholic Mass as well as Protestant, Hindu, and Muslim service. Eucharist is also available at the bedside. There are weekly Torah studies, multiple weekly Christian Bible Studies, and weekly Qur’an study. Furthermore, chaplains coordinate spiritual needs for those whose faith groups are not represented by staff chaplains (such as Latter-Day Saints, Buddhist, and Christian Scientist).

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center remains committed to supporting all of our patients’ religious preferences and will we continue to ensure their spiritual needs are met.