President George W. Bush on Thursday attended a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. The $970 million expansion will include new patient facilities that will replace Walter Reed National Medical Center, but retain its name.

Bush said he hoped the new facilities "will be the site of many miracles of healing."

Bush focused on the positive at Walter Reed, avoiding mention of the problems uncovered there in a recent investigative news report by Washington Post reporters that found rough conditions and inadequate outpatient care.

The construction will add 6.7 million-square-feet facility and it will have 345 beds, merging the Army, Navy and Air Force to make it easier for medical personnel to from those branches to collaborate on treating patients.