Army

By Roan Smith
WRNMMC Hospital Communications

BETHESDA, Md. — When patients call Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s Primary Care Department, they now have a simplified system. Through Walter’s Way, a new “one-call solution” initiative, patients can reach their care team directly, get advice from a nurse, schedule appointments, and even request prescription renewals, all in one call.

“The idea behind Walter’s Way is putting our patients and their needs first with a one-call solution to take care of their needs,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Simmons, Deputy Director for the Department of Medicine and Primary Care lead for Walter’s Way. “Whether it’s nursing advice, same-day appointments, or medication renewals, we want to go above and beyond for our Walter Reed family.”

Callers reach a staffed line that pairs nurses and medical support assistants (MSAs). The team can schedule well visits, same-day or next-day acute care, check referral status, and begin prescription-renewal processes. Walter’s Way also now includes nurse triage on the initial call, so patients receive clinical guidance immediately.

“Our triage nurses can help determine if any issue can be managed at home, needs medical advice, or requires an in-person or virtual visit,” said Simmons. “It’s all about providing the right care at the right time.”

The Primary Care department, which includes pediatrics, adolescent and young adult medicine (AYA), and internal medicine, now offers expanded hours. Early morning, evenings and Saturday clinics will help patients fit their care into busy schedules. Internal medicine provides virtual Saturday appointments and pediatrics offer early appointments for school-day families and full Saturday clinics.

“We’ve designed our schedule to meet patients where they are. That flexibility is a big part of Walter’s Way,” said Simmons.

The initiative also helps strengthen continuity of care by connecting patients to their primary care team more consistently. The program standardizes triage protocols and ensures that patients are scheduled appropriately for in-person or virtual visits, improving both access and clinical outcomes.

Patients have already noticed the difference. One family praised a Walter’s Way nurse who “went above and beyond to help us get my son scheduled for an appointment.”

Primary Care is expected to expand its nursing and administrative teams. Internal medicine plans to add four registered nurses (RNs) and four MSAs dedicated to Walter’s Way, while Pediatrics plan to add two RNs, one MSA, and a triage provider of the day.

Patients can reach Walter’s Way Primary Care line at 301-295-8901. For more information, visit walterreed.tricare.mil/waltersway.

Fort McCoy held its 2025 Deer Hunter Meet and Greet event Nov. 21, 2025, at Whitetail Ridge Ski Area with dozens of hunters participating in the get-together to help prepare them for the nine-day gun-deer season on post.

The cooperative event between the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB), Directorate of Emergency Services, and the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation is meant to provide hunters with additional information and preparation for the upcoming gun-deer season at Fort McCoy.

The 2025 gun-deer season at Fort McCoy was Nov. 22-30, and hunters harvested 313 deer. Wildlife Biologist Kevin Luepke with the NRB discussed what the event is all about in a past news article.

“The event is geared towards allowing the hunters to come in the night before the gun-deer opener to ask questions and get information on the deer herd health, how the population is looking, inform them on chronic wasting disease concerns, and more,” Luepke said.

At the 2025 event, people on hand included:

— Conservation law enforcement officers to help answer questions about rules and regulations and about firearms registration requirements.

— Julie Steinhoff, a Colorado State University employee who supports the Fort McCoy Permit Sales Office, who helped answer any questions about the Fort McCoy iSportsman website or help guide hunters on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources GoWild System.

— NRB biologists, including Luepke, who were available to answer questions about the current state of the Fort McCoy deer herd and more.

“We’re also looking to assist hunters and answer anyone’s questions,” Luepke said.

Attending this event also were members of the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy command team and the Fort McCoy Religious Support Office.

Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez gave attendees a warm welcome, and more.

“Welcome to Wisconsin if you traveled from out of state to come here,” Baez said. “Deer hunting — that has become a tradition here at Fort McCoy. We have been doing this for 48 years. And we are very proud, and we are very lucky to have you here this weekend. So, welcome everybody.

“I want to make sure that everybody is safe,” Baez said. “I wish you good luck getting all the deer that you can get out there, but I want to make sure that everybody is moving in a safe manner. So, we’re going to have our DPW team here talk about some of the changes with the Fort McCoy (hunting) regulation. … And I just want to make sure that everybody understands those changes.”

Fort McCoy Garrison’s senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. James Riddle, also spoke to the attendees.

“Again, thanks for coming,” Riddle said. “Not only does it give you an opportunity to put meat in your freezer, but it helps manage our herd, minimizing our vehicle-deer accidents, and the diseases that come. … I truly appreciate you coming out. … Hope you have a great time. I just want to wish you good luck and be safe out there.”

Chaplain (Maj.) Walter McCoy, garrison chaplain, also offered words of encouragement to hunters to wish them well through a deer hunter’s prayer.

“Imagine, and I ask also too that in the midst of this joy, I pray that you keep your wisdom, your hand of safety upon them, and give them wisdom from heaven above to use all the safety protocols they have been trained in,” McCall said. “And to receive everything that is going to be given to them today, as well as also giving them insight and instincts to always do the right thing. I thank you for this blessing that they receive it right now in your mighty name because you are the one that can do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think. Gentlemen, you are blessed to go and hunt.”

During the event, Luepke said overall the deer herd looked to be in good condition heading into the season.

“We have … seen lower fawn numbers this summer, so our herd recruitment has been a bit lower than normal,” Luepke said. “The acorn production is higher than last year (little to no acorn production in 2024) — 2025 has not seen a bumper crop of acorns by any means, but there has been some acorn production associated with white and black (scrub) oak.”

For the 2025 gun-deer hunt, the deer data collection point was also in full operation on South Post in the same location just off Highway 21 as previous years. Hunters were required to bring their harvested deer through the deer data collection point. Biological data was collected, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling offered, and a dumpster was available to discard any carcasses. Collected CWD samples were sent to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and all successful hunters were encouraged to have their deer tested.

“That biological data we collect at the station is important to evaluate the herd health and calculate the installation deer population,” Luepke said. “We also collect lymph nodes for CWD testing.”

Fort McCoy plans to continue the Meet and Greet event during the 2026 Fort McCoy gun-deer season in November 2026.

Learn more about deer hunting at Fort McCoy by visiting the installation iSportsman page at https://ftmccoy.isportsman.net.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”