God bless the WaPo

[tugmoose]

The last few month have not been the news media's proudest time - from layoffs to diaper astronaut to anna nichol to Britney. But in case you missed it (if you were watching the 24-hour news channels, you probably did), here's a situation that shows how the media can still make an important difference.

 

Investigation Launched Into Walter Reed Outpatient Care

Defense Secretary to Form Independent Panel to Probe 'Unacceptable Situation'

 

By William Branigin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, February 23, 2007; 12:24 PM

 

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the formation of an independent panel to look into what he called an "unacceptable situation" with outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and he vowed that those responsible will be held accountable.

 

Some people who were "directly involved" in the problems at the Washington, D.C., complex already have been relieved of their duties, Gates disclosed, but he did not elaborate.

 

In a news briefing after touring the facility and speaking to wounded soldiers there, Gates said he was "dismayed" to learn from a Washington Post series published Sunday and Monday that some injured troops have not been receiving "the best possible treatment at all stages of their recovery."

 

The Post found recovering soldiers living in squalid conditions in Building 18, a decrepit former hotel just outside the Walter Reed grounds, with some of the quarters plagued by mold, rot and vermin. The series also documented a larger issue of bureaucratic indifference that soldiers and family members said had demoralized them and impeded recovery.

 

Gates declared today, "This is unacceptable, and it will not continue." He said he briefed President Bush this morning on the situation and described him as "understandably concerned and emphatic in wanting the best possible care for our wounded soldiers and for their families."

 

Noting that the recovering soldiers have paid a high price for defending the nation, Gates said, "They should not have to recuperate in substandard housing, nor should they be expected to tackle mountains of paperwork and bureaucratic processes. . . . They battled our foreign enemies; they should not have to battle an American bureaucracy."

 

Gates announced the formation of what he called "an independent review group" consisting of eight military, medical and political leaders to "take a broad look at all our rehabilitative care and administrative processes here at Walter Reed and at the National Naval Medical Center" in nearby Bethesda, Md.

 

He said the group would be co-chaired by Togo D. West Jr., former secretary of veterans affairs and secretary of the Army under President Bill Clinton, and John O. "Jack" Marsh Jr., former secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan and a former member of Congress from Virginia. Other members include two other former members of Congress from the Republican and Democratic parties, three retired senior military officers and a retired command sergeant major.

 

The group will be charged with issuing a report on its findings within 45 days.

 

Gates said he had no indication of problems at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda or facilities elsewhere comparable to those at Walter Reed, but he said the review group would be empowered to investigate wherever it wanted because "we need to know the scope of this problem."

 

He said the Defense Department must have "accountability at all levels." However, in response to a question, he said that "no one has offered to resign at this point" over the Walter Reed situation.

 

He added, "We are not going to wait 45 days to begin addressing these problems. And so there have been some people who are most directly involved who have been relieved. But we will be looking and evaluating the rest of the chain of command as we get more information."

 

Gates said his tour of Walter Reed this morning revealed "some real problems in terms of the size of staffing, in terms of administrative tie-ups, bureaucratic paperwork issues." He described the medical care itself at the hospital as "just unsurpassable," identifying the shortcomings as confined to "the outpatient aspect of this."

 

There is rare unanimity in Washington on the need to treat wounded soldiers well, Gates said, "and so we're determined to fix it, and fix it fast."

 

Gates declined to second a senior military officer's characterization yesterday of the Post articles as "one-sided," and he said he was grateful to reporters for bringing the situation to national attention.

 

"I read the articles on Sunday and Monday and I was upset by them," the defense secretary said. "And I have not seen anything or heard anything in the time since then to lead me to believe that those articles were in any substantial way wrong."

 

The comments came a day after the Army's surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, criticized the Post articles, saying they unfairly characterized the living conditions and care for soldiers recuperating from wounds at the hospital's facilities.

 

Kiley, chief of the Army Medical Command, told reporters that the Post series "was a one-sided representation."

 

The Army had not previously challenged any aspect of the Post series, and military leaders said they were moving quickly to deal with the issues raised. They promised to eliminate squalid conditions in Building 18, where 76 wounded soldiers live as outpatients, and to address broader bureaucratic problems in the handling of wounded soldiers.

 

Kiley said yesterday that the problems at Walter Reed were neither widespread nor symptomatic of a system that has "abandoned soldiers and their families." Kiley was commander at the hospital before becoming surgeon general in 2004. His comments came at the end of a media tour that featured repair efforts in Building 18. Reporters were shown rooms that had been painted, plumbing that had been repaired and floors disinfected.

 

On Wednesday, Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army, and William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, attributed the problems to a breakdown in leadership, although they declined to identify anyone who was at fault. Instead, they and the commander of Walter Reed, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, said they took overall responsibility for the situation.

 

"Clearly, we've had a breakdown in leadership, and bureaucratic, medical and contractual processes bogged down a speedy solution to these problems," Cody told reporters. "I can assure you that the appropriate vigor and leadership is being applied to this issue, and we will correct any problems immediately."

 

Cody vowed to "personally oversee the plan to upgrade Building 18."

[cryptique]

Salon.com reported on this stuff two years ago.

 

Apparently it takes the big bad Washington Post to get anyone to notice.

[tugmoose]

From Armytimes.com

 

Walter Reed patients told to keep quiet

 

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer

Posted : Wednesday Feb 28, 2007 17:03:08 EST

 

Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center