Walter Reed National Military Medical Center hosted a Black History Month observance on Feb. 6, 2024, in Memorial Auditorium, featuring retired Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Norvell “Van” Coots. Coots served as the last director of the Walter Reed Health Care System (WRHCS) and hospital at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), before the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 2005, which consolidated the National Naval Medical Center and WRAMC (which served as the headquarters of WRHCS), culminating in the opening of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in November 2011. He curre
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center hosted a Black History Month observance on Feb. 6, 2024, in Memorial Auditorium, featuring retired Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Norvell “Van” Coots. Coots served as the last director of the Walter Reed Health Care System (WRHCS) and hospital at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), before the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 2005, which consolidated the National Naval Medical Center and WRAMC (which served as the headquarters of WRHCS), culminating in the opening of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in November 2011. He currently serves as the chairman of the Board for Maryland Physicians Care and concurrently presides over the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Hospital. During his presentation titled “Health Equity: African Americans and the Arts,” Coots traced his journey into medicine, paying homage to his parents – both of whom were physicians. “The military is a microcosm of America, and it is uniquely poised to lead the charge to realize health equity and health equality,” emphasized Coots, whose vast medical experience in the public and private sectors has informed his ability to recognize disparate gaps in access and coverage to quality health care by marginalized communities. Coots shared with this audience how he dealt with racial bias by employing his parents’ ethos of treating everyone with dignity and recognizing the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion. (DoD Photographs by Harvey A. Duze – Office of Command Communications, WRNMMC)
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Keywords: black, coots, dr., history, month, norvell, reed, walter
