First the Good News
And the next day, the Bad News, also from Army times:
Gates’ candor on hospital woes lauded
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 27, 2007 13:13:39 EST
While lawmakers don’t have much good to say about problems combat-injured soldiers are facing with the bureaucracy and their living conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, two key senators have high praise for how the new secretary of defense is addressing the problems.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates has struck the right tone with him. Gates has addressed the situation “with unusual candor,” has been open to congressional oversight and to correcting problems “very quickly,” Warner said.
The current Armed Services chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., agreed. “I thought he was very direct and nondefensive,” Levin said.
Gates said Friday that he was “dismayed” to learn some injured service members “were not getting the best possible treatment at all stages of their recovery, in particular the outpatient care. This is unacceptable and it will not continue.”
The House defense appropriations subcommittee, chaired by Rep. John Murtha, R-Pa., plans a closed-door hearing Friday to hear from senior defense and Army officials about reports of problems with care for injured service members who are being treated as outpatients at the Army’s premier hospital.
The Army has been rushing to repair unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, and several independent reviews are underway to try to cut the red tape and bureaucracy that have resulted in problems with medical appointments and fair treatment in seeking medical disability retirement ratings from the military.
The Senate Armed Services Committee also plans an open hearing March 6 to determine why nothing was done to correct problems until conditions facing the injured combat veterans were reported in the news media.
One reason Gates won praise from the Armed Services Committee members is that he did not try to cover up the problems or blame the media for sensationalizing the plight of a few combat veterans, a defensive posture that Army officials initially took after the first news reports. “I'm grateful to reporters for bringing this problem to our attention, but very disappointed we did not identify it ourselves,” Gates said.
“The men and women recovering at Walter Reed and at other military hospitals have put their lives on the line and paid a considerable price for defending our country,” Gates said. “They should not have to recuperate in substandard housing, nor should they be expected to tackle mountains of paperwork and bureaucratic processes during this difficult period. They battled our foreign enemies; they should not have to battle an American bureaucracy.”
And the next day, the Bad News, also from Army times:
Walter Reed patients told to keep quiet
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 28, 2007 12:21:45 EST
Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media.
“Some soldiers believe this is a form of punishment for the trouble soldiers caused by talking to the media,” one Medical Hold Unit soldier said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
It is unusual for soldiers to have daily inspections after Basic Training.
Soldiers say their sergeant major gathered troops at 6 p.m. Monday to tell them they must follow their chain of command when asking for help with their medical evaluation paperwork, or when they spot mold, mice or other problems in their quarters.
They were also told they would be moving out of Building 18 to Building 14 within the next couple of weeks. Building 14 is a barracks that houses the administrative offices for the Medical Hold Unit and was renovated in 2006. It’s also located on the Walter Reed Campus, where reporters must be escorted by public affairs personnel. Building 18 is located just off campus and is easy to access.
The soldiers said they were also told their first sergeant has been relieved of duty, and that all of their platoon sergeants have been moved to other positions at Walter Reed. And 120 permanent-duty soldiers are expected to arrive by mid-March to take control of the Medical Hold Unit, the soldiers said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Army public affairs did not respond to a request sent Sunday evening to verify the personnel changes.
The Pentagon also clamped down on media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities, to include suspending planned projects by CNN and the Discovery Channel, saying in an e-mail to spokespeople: “It will be in most cases not appropriate to engage the media while this review takes place,” referring to an investigation of the problems at Walter Reed.