Glen Echo Park is one of the most visible victims of the federal government shutdown in our area, with all activities cancelled there until further notice.
The National Park Service, which has authority over the park, closed all of its parks after Congress did not pass a continuing budget resolution to fund the federal government by the Oct. 1 deadline.
There will be no public access to the park, no activities at the park and off-site classes may happen depending on specific instructors.
The Park’s website says the offices of the Glen Echo Park Partnership, which organizes the many of the park’s events and classes, is also closed. Washington Conservatory programs will meet at their Westmoreland site.
Check the park website for more details.
At Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, government furloughs are expected to have a big effect. But the hospital will remain open and future appointments will remain available, according to a press release:
Walter Reed Bethesda Beneficiaries,
We do three things: Accomplish our mission/Take care of each other/Take care of our Families. I cannot separate these – they blend into one.
We will continue to do all three as once again, we must face a new fiscal reality and make hard decisions – always with compassion.
All of us know there is a potential for a lapse in appropriations, which if it occurs, would result in an emergency furlough.
The recent furlough and the potential lapse in appropriations have brought a significant amount of uncertainty into the lives of you, our beneficiaries, who deserve and receive quality health care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the nation’s hospital. Please know, Walter Reed Bethesda remains committed to carrying out our mission of providing safe, quality health care; therefore, if there is a lapse in appropriations and the government is shut down, the medical center will remain open and future appointments will remain available. You are a vital member of the Walter Reed Bethesda family and our goal is to minimize any disruption to you. I do not like this. None of us do, but it is a reality which we must, as always, face together.
As always, it will all work out as long as we stay focused on those we are privileged to SERVE/ take care of each other/ and take care of our Families.
Thank you and may God Bless.
Much has been made about how the shutdown will affect NIH. The Bethesda-based agency will have to cut off research, laboratory experiments and turn away patients — about 200 of them each week who want to enroll in experimental treatment studies, according to multiple news outlets.
Then, there’s the largely unknown effect the shutdown will have on federal contractors. As for traffic, Metro has already reported that Metrorail ridership is down 22.5 percent compared to the same time last week.
And if you’re OK with businesses using the federal shutdown as a marketing tool, Bethesda Patch has compiled a list of area businesses offering discounts to furloughed federal workers.
Flickr photo by ehpien
