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Senate to Investigate Walter Reed Scandal
Starting next week, the Senate wades into the muck at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Senate Armed Services Committee announced today that next Tuesday, March 6, a host of responsible Defense officials will parade to the Dirksen building to try to explain how conditions at the Army's elite hospital complex deteriorated to the horrific conditions depicted in last week's depressing Washington Post series.
Perhaps the most anticipated testimony will come from the Army's surgeon general, Lt. General Kevin C. Kiley. The Pentagon reacted to the Post investigation with near-unanimous horror and regret -- Army Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody took personal responsibility in a Thursday press conference -- and vowed to get to the heart of the problem. Kiley has been the exception. While he hasn't challenged the facts that the paper reported, last week he attacked the expose as "one-sided" and assured reporters, "this is not a horrific, catastrophic failure at Walter Reed."
Defense Secretary Gates disagrees. On Friday, he declined to endorse Kiley's characterization, saying "I have not seen anything or heard anything in the time since (the stories ran) to lead me to believe that those articles were in any substantial way wrong." To get out in front of the scandal, Gates announced the creation of an internal investigation -- led by Clinton and Reagan defense officials -- into Walter Reed, the Bethesda Naval hospital and "any other centers they choose to examine." While he said he hadn't heard of any additional problems with veterans' outpatient services beyond Walter Reed, Gates emphasized that the Pentagon needs to understand "the scope of the problem."
The next move will be the Senate's. Kiley and Cody are called as witnesses, as is Walter Reed's commanding general, Maj. General George Weightman, and the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, William Winkenwerder. In addition to next week's hearing, more Hill action is likely: Winkenwerder is stepping down from his position for what we're told are unrelated reasons. His nominated replacement, cardiologist and Army Reserve Col. S. Ward. Casscells -- who recently returned from Iraq himself -- is sure to face a grilling on veterans' outpatient care as well.
Comments (20)
Com-n-sense wrote on February 26, 2007 10:55 AM:Let me tell you what they'll find out and what they already know and will never make public.
Ever since the military industrial complex has taken over this nation we have been running our foreign policy on the premise that we have to have continued conflict in order to have continued profit for those that benefit from war. We have been fighting someone, someplace continually for years. It's good for business.
Getting wounded isn't good for business. You've become damaged goods and a liability. There is no money to be made in taking care of the wounded, you've become a drain. Hence there has been the cutting of benefits for veterans as war is escalated.
This is what is evident and what we will never hear.
Anonymous wrote on February 26, 2007 11:17 AM:Let's point something else out--this is a totally different war than any other we've fought when it comes to casualties. The wounded-to-killed ratio in this war is roughly 10:1, the highest of any war. In Vietnam, it was 3 soldiers wounded to every one killed.
Medicine has enabled us to restore to full health many people who would otherwise have been killed or permanently disabled. And it has also helped us restore to much less than full health many people who would have been disabled or outright killed.
The reality is that more ex-soldiers are going to need more medical care than ever before, and on a per-capita basis, it's going to cost more than ever before. It's also going to look different from prior wars: more psychiatric treatment for the fact that we've been fighting an incredibly prolonged anti-insurrection campaign; more outpatient and long-term rehabilitative therapy; more use of very expensive assistive technologies (electric wheelchairs for quadraplegics, etc); more incredibly expensive treatment for head trauma & its effects.
We haven't been the least bit honest about the fiscal implications of this war, and we appear to lave lowballed the cost of caring for hte wounded on top of everything else. The budget for growth in the VA medical system does not reflect the realities of this war. And I don't know how the hell we plan to care for National Guardsmen.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on February 26, 2007 12:18 PM:Stories like this will be the rule rather than the exception unless we get real about what the long-term medical cost of this war will be. The VA system of WWI, WWII, or even Vietnam is simply not going to work.
AND the budget recently submitted by Commander Codpiece proposes hacking a huge hunk of Vet's benefits and healthcare to preserve taxes cuts for the most wealthy.
KY3Democrat wrote on February 26, 2007 12:22 PM:As I have said before, we need more American skin
in this game: we need a draft. Too many people
are watching this war on TV. Until everyday
people see their own asses (or their children's)
on the firing line, nothing will change.
This is Rangel's idea. The Democrats can push for
a draft, then dare Bush to veto it. Once we have
a draft, then Joe 6-Pack will begin to take
an interest; the war won't be a distant football
game any longer. Maybe he'll even call a
Congressman or two, either to thank for the
opportunity to serve, or to protest.
-- KY3 Democrat: "There is no flesh so precious
Robin Boerner wrote on February 26, 2007 12:35 PM:that that which sticks to my own ribs"
Just remember, fungus and mold hate sunshine.
The best way to cure this problem is to make it very public. Show Bush's true support for our wounded warriors. When this becomes as reported as Britney Spears shaved head it will be fixed. Not until.
Support the Troops wrote on February 26, 2007 12:58 PM:Over 600,000 vets are waiting for "decisions" on their disability claims - its no wonder nearly 1,000 iraq war vets are now HOMELESS - for anyone who hasnt seen it - you have to check out this trailer for the documentary called WHEN I CAME HOME -
www.whenicamehome.com
it won Tribeca and is all about homeless Iraq war vets - what a national disgrace!
Fledermaus wrote on February 26, 2007 6:42 PM:The real story here is the private contracting work done by IAP Worldwide: will assume much of the base's support work, including postal services, military police support, administration and budget support, network support, housing management, transportation functions, grounds maintenance, utility systems, heating and cooling services, hospital housekeeping, laundry service and warehouse operations.
SeeDee wrote on February 26, 2007 8:20 PM:comm-n-sense post certainly hits the 'nail on the head'...
Ever since the great R.Reagan's administratiopn, the rush to unite EVERY GOVERNMENT SERVICE with 'private contractors' has proceeded apace.
Consequently, the 'services' provided for VA needs (often duplicitous of VA work by publicly paid personnel) is, naturally, based soley on the 'profit' angle.
Solemn commitments and promises made to Vets, past wars and present, if even known by the various contractors, are forgotten in the interest of corporate bottom lines.
This craze for contractinmg everything out is also responsible for the great evil which permeates our government today...and that is the opportunity for unscrupulous bribers and bribe-takers among our law-makers..
'Privatization' has not saved this country anything...it has cost the h... out of us.
Anonymous wrote on February 26, 2007 8:53 PM:>Once we have a draft, then Joe 6-Pack will begin to take an interest; the war won't be a distant football game any longer. <
Hell-O?? Joe 6-Pack is the one fighting this war, and has been since its inception. Joe 6-pack is the one who elected scores of Democrats this November on their promises (uttered, implied or merely anticipated) to end funding for the war. Every small town in rural America has lost "citizen soldiers," i.e. working stiffs, to this war. It's Joe Ivory Tower who doesn't get that there's a war going on.
Joe Ivory Tower wrote on February 26, 2007 10:21 PM:Bullshit. Joe Ivory Tower voted against Bush both times. Joe Six-Pack thought that having a president more like him had to be better than some Ivory Tower type. A draft is about the only thing that will get Joe Six-Pack's attention --- he's too busy mourning Anna Nicole Smith to care about the 42 soldiers who've died in Iraq since she did!
Sara wrote on February 26, 2007 11:21 PM:What should be demanded of Levin's hearings?
Answers to the questions regarding why Military Hold on those wounded and recovering is as long and complex as it is?
Answers to questions as to why the migration from Military Medical Services (active duty) to the VA services is so complex? The Senate should demand, state by state and region by region detail on whether the VA is programmed and staffed to care for dischargees from the Military System in a timely and seamless way. VA is very weak in some places in PTSD and Mental Health services -- we can estimate the case load -- what is VA doing to meet it?
Levin should request that all Senate and Congressional Offices audit their Case Worker Files over the past 4 years regarding all problems with VA and Military Medical matters. All the problems that seem to be beyond the bureaucracy end up as requests for individual Senators and Congresscritters to get involved, and one good measure of system problems would be found in an audit of these cases. Of course it should be done without identifiers -- but it needs to focus on regional problems, Rank at time of injury, Nature of injury, and any regional difference in awards of percentage of disability. Length of time it took Hill Staff Caseworkers and District or State Office Caseworkers to resolve problems should be made clear.
Senators and Congress members who won't participate should be made public. (This is a way to get at the question, "Did you Know about problems?" before the WaPo articles.)
Congress needs to address the question of post military transition for all wounded and injured members of the military. Many will never return to active duty -- and need to have serious counsel as to not only benefits, but potential careers after service, and how benefits can be used to make such transitions. Many states provide partial support for this -- thus the state and VA benefits need integration.
Levin needs to require that all facilities nationwide be assessed for the kinds of problems found at Walter Reed. All inspections should include State VA personnel when they are inspecting in-state. All results should be public information, no confidential or secret status should attach to any inspection or report.
And yes, Levin should authorize cost-benefit studies of all privatized services for comparison with both Military and VA, and other public and comparable medical services. The comparisons should be both short and long term.
Levin needs to question, or re-explore Military planning for Surge Capacity in Medical Care given the proposed closure of Walter Reed and other facilities. When you go to war, you require surge capacity even if you ultimately don't need it. Surge capacity is both buildings, beds and staffing plans, but it is also financial, and it should be required before any war resolution is tabled in Congress. (rather like an environmental impact statement.) Ditto on this for the VA planning. George C. Marshall overplanned a bit for D-Day and the months afterwards, he had about 20 thousand beds in GB that were not needed. Better that than no surge capacity.
Why are the computer systems of Military Medicine and the VA incompatable? Levin needs a tech answer to how this can be fixed -- a tech not working for DOD or VA. Post Vietnam, the services used the "general discharge" as a means to cut costs of VA entitlements -- we need to know this is not still happening. Likewise they attached secret "spin" numbers to discharge papers that coded for denial of services and benefits, and denied employment as some employers had access to spin number code. Again -- is it happening again?
Many more questions Levin should ask -- put the pressure on him, knowing he is one of the good Senators.
Frederick Schultz wrote on March 5, 2007 11:04 AM:From: frederickwschultz@msn.com
Subject: Residential Ventilation Inspection
Permission to copy and distribute some or all of this URL Blog is given to all concerned about the
Walter Reed Building 18 Inspection Panel results:
These recommendations apply to all residential ventilation inspections.
Please review and print out the URL at:
http://groups.msn.com/IAQ
Select "IAQ" and print out for advised Health Department Residential Ventilation Inspections as to how to inspect same.
Frederick Schultz wrote on May 30, 2007 10:38 AM:The book "Ventilation Inspection Advisory" is available for interlibrary loan at selected libraries, including EPA Libraries.
Thank you,
FrederickWSchultz@msn.com
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