District 71: Donald Trump’s luxurious presidential suite at Walter Reed Medical Center

How bad the president of the United States, Donald Trump, was after his coronavirus diagnosis is mired in confusion. But what is not in dispute is that while fighting infection, it is in the lap of luxury.

The facility you are currently in is not an ordinary hospital. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling and you have your own private kitchen and dining room.

Trump was reportedly taken to Walter Reed Medical Center after supplemental oxygen was administered at the White House. He is being treated alongside first lady Melania Trump for Covid-19.

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, to give it its full title, is located in Bethesda, Maryland, beyond the borders of the District of Columbia, but a short helicopter flight from the White House.

Its location and prowess in health have made it the choice of American presidents in need of medical treatment for decades.

The autopsy of John F Kennedy, after his assassination in Dallas in 1963, was carried out on Walter Reed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was treated there, as were Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, who underwent cancer surgery.

President Reagan also recovered in hospital after an assassination attempt in 1981 that left him with a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

Countless other presidents have also come to visit wounded men and women in service. Prince Harry paid a visit in 2013 to meet with staff and patients.

The predecessor to the current facility was built in 1909 and was named after Major Walter Reed, who did pioneering work on yellow fever transmission.

From the beginning, his attention was focused on the health care needs of United States military personnel, specifically in the Army. Many American war heroes spent time at Walter Reed.

Over the decades, the facility expanded to 5,500 beds at its original location within the District of Columbia.

WARD 71: THE PRESIDENT’S SUITE

In 2011, the center moved from Washington to Maryland to a complex that would treat personnel from not just the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The relocation was designed to save money on maintaining old buildings. But massive cost explosions meant that the construction of the new Walter Reed hospital cost $ 2.7 billion.

Part of the cost went to very good investments for any president who might be unfortunate enough to get sick.

A section of the hospital, on the south side of the great medical campus, is off limits to anyone but the holder of the highest office in the country.

The Presidential Suite consists of six rooms. Known as Ward 71, the community includes a dedicated intensive care suite and recovery bedroom.

Less west wing, more rest wing.

But unlike most hospital patients, presidents have a little more room to stretch out. Huge thick sofas, large armchairs, and overstuffed rugs litter the room, which in many areas feels more like a first-rate hotel than a hospital.

The suite also features a kitchen, living room, and dining room illuminated by a crystal chandelier.

There is also a conference room within the ward, where the president can conduct business of state.

In fact, Trump’s video of the president recorded from the hospital may well have been filmed from the suite’s conference facilities.

As expected, the suite is equipped with the latest technology and with maximum security.

There is also a ward adjunct that has an office for the White House chief of staff and bedrooms for them and other top aides who must be present at all times, NBC reported.

Walter Reed has no shortage of physicians, but if the president needs specialized care, a pre-approved list of medical personnel is available that you can quickly enter.

The suite is considered Department of Defense property. That means that even though the president may be in the hospital, the medical staff has no free rein to show up in any way.

This is not Trump’s first visit to Walter Reed. The First Lady is well aware of the suite that underwent kidney surgery to treat a “benign condition” in 2018.

Walter Reed was also the first place Trump publicly wore a mask during the pandemic.

After avoiding them for some time, he donned a special dark blue mask with the presidential seal when he visited injured service members and health workers in August.

“I think when you’re in a hospital, especially in that particular setting, where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people who, in some cases, have just got up from operating tables, I think it’s cool to wear a mask,” he said Trump at the time.

“I’ve never been against masks, but I think they have a time and a place.”

President Trump now has potentially around a fortnight to get comfortable in possibly the most luxurious hospital ward in the world.