I'm sure most of you have heard or read the headlines by now regarding the poor conditions for soldiers at Walter Reed. If not, you can do so here:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/05/con...reed/index.html
Now maybe I'm just clueless, but I would THINK that the military would put emphasis on providing their men and women the best medical care under the best conditions possible, especially the ones that have suffered injuries in battle. They don't mention anything about rat-infested military hospitals or neglected medical care in all of those TV commercials but maybe that was just an accidental oversight. *shrug*
It's not like we're some poor third world country! How do they think they'd get away with this? I respect the hell out of the men and women that volunteer for our military, but I have lost quite a bit of respect for the military as a whole for how it evidently treats the men and women that have voluntarily given up so much for their country. I just do not understand the meaning of this and how it could happen.
Sure, we may live in the best country in the world, but it never ceases to amaze me just how crooked and mistrustful our government can be.
Full Version: Army Medical Care, Walter Reed, what to do, what to do.
QUOTE (coma @ Mar 5 2007, 05:56 PM) 
I'm sure most of you have heard or read the headlines by now regarding the poor conditions for soldiers at Walter Reed. If not, you can do so here:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/05/con...reed/index.html
Now maybe I'm just clueless, but I would THINK that the military would put emphasis on providing their men and women the best medical care under the best conditions possible, especially the ones that have suffered injuries in battle. They don't mention anything about rat-infested military hospitals or neglected medical care in all of those TV commercials but maybe that was just an accidental oversight. *shrug*
It's not like we're some poor third world country! How do they think they'd get away with this? I respect the hell out of the men and women that volunteer for our military, but I have lost quite a bit of respect for the military as a whole for how it evidently treats the men and women that have voluntarily given up so much for their country. I just do not understand the meaning of this and how it could happen.
Sure, we may live in the best country in the world, but it never ceases to amaze me just how crooked and mistrustful our government can be.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/05/con...reed/index.html
Now maybe I'm just clueless, but I would THINK that the military would put emphasis on providing their men and women the best medical care under the best conditions possible, especially the ones that have suffered injuries in battle. They don't mention anything about rat-infested military hospitals or neglected medical care in all of those TV commercials but maybe that was just an accidental oversight. *shrug*
It's not like we're some poor third world country! How do they think they'd get away with this? I respect the hell out of the men and women that volunteer for our military, but I have lost quite a bit of respect for the military as a whole for how it evidently treats the men and women that have voluntarily given up so much for their country. I just do not understand the meaning of this and how it could happen.
Sure, we may live in the best country in the world, but it never ceases to amaze me just how crooked and mistrustful our government can be.
I remember hearing last year that they wanted to close that facility. Maybe they let it go so they could say it was the only choice.
As much as I'd like to blame this whole mess on GWB, the fact is that it's only half his fault. You see Walter Reed and the VA are not connected in any way.
The VA has sucked for decades under presidents from both parties. Clinton did a little but not nearly enough.
Walter Reed on the other hand was a class act up until privatization.
The VA problems are deplorable and IMO we're all to blame for them.
But the Walter Reed fiasco has Bush's fingerprints all over it. Now the big cover-up is on. In a few weeks it will blow over and that will be the end of it.
The VA has sucked for decades under presidents from both parties. Clinton did a little but not nearly enough.
Walter Reed on the other hand was a class act up until privatization.
QUOTE
Committee subpoenas former Walter Reed chief
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 3, 2007 9:31:09 EST
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has subpoenaed Maj. Gen. George Weightman, who was fired as head of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, after Army officials refused to allow him to testify before the committee Monday.
Read complete coverage of the Walter Reed controversy.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and subcommittee Chairman John Tierney asked Weightman to testify about an internal memo that showed privatization of services at Walter Reed could put “patient care services… at risk of mission failure.”
But Army officials refused to allow Weightman to appear before the committee after he was relieved of command.
“The Army was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the decision to prevent General Weightman from testifying,” committee members said in a statement today.
The committee wants to learn more about a letter written in September by Garrison Commander Peter Garibaldi to Weightman.
The memorandum “describes how the Army’s decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an exodus of ‘highly skilled and experienced personnel,’” the committee’s letter states. “According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.”
The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official.
They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50 private workers.
“The conditions that have been described at Walter Reed are disgraceful,” the letter states. “Part of our mission on the Oversight Committee is to investigate what led to the breakdown in services. It would be reprehensible if the deplorable conditions were caused or aggravated by an ideological commitment to privatize government services regardless of the costs to taxpayers and the consequences for wounded soldiers.”
The letter said the Defense Department “systemically” tried to replace federal workers at Walter Reed with private companies for facilities management, patient care and guard duty – a process that began in 2000.
“But the push to privatize support services there accelerated under President Bush’s ‘competitive sourcing’ initiative, which was launched in 2002,” the letter states.
During the year between awarding the contract to IAP and when the company started, “skilled government workers apparently began leaving Walter Reed in droves,” the letter states. “The memorandum also indicates that officials at the highest levels of Walter Reed and the U.S. Army Medical Command were informed about the dangers of privatization, but appeared to do little to prevent them.”
The memo signed by Garibaldi requests more federal employees because the hospital mission had grown “significantly” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It states that medical command did not concur with their request for more people.
“Without favorable consideration of these requests,” Garibaldi wrote, “[Walter Reed Army Medical Center] Base Operations and patient care services are at risk of mission failure.”
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 3, 2007 9:31:09 EST
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has subpoenaed Maj. Gen. George Weightman, who was fired as head of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, after Army officials refused to allow him to testify before the committee Monday.
Read complete coverage of the Walter Reed controversy.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and subcommittee Chairman John Tierney asked Weightman to testify about an internal memo that showed privatization of services at Walter Reed could put “patient care services… at risk of mission failure.”
But Army officials refused to allow Weightman to appear before the committee after he was relieved of command.
“The Army was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the decision to prevent General Weightman from testifying,” committee members said in a statement today.
The committee wants to learn more about a letter written in September by Garrison Commander Peter Garibaldi to Weightman.
The memorandum “describes how the Army’s decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an exodus of ‘highly skilled and experienced personnel,’” the committee’s letter states. “According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.”
The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official.
They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50 private workers.
“The conditions that have been described at Walter Reed are disgraceful,” the letter states. “Part of our mission on the Oversight Committee is to investigate what led to the breakdown in services. It would be reprehensible if the deplorable conditions were caused or aggravated by an ideological commitment to privatize government services regardless of the costs to taxpayers and the consequences for wounded soldiers.”
The letter said the Defense Department “systemically” tried to replace federal workers at Walter Reed with private companies for facilities management, patient care and guard duty – a process that began in 2000.
“But the push to privatize support services there accelerated under President Bush’s ‘competitive sourcing’ initiative, which was launched in 2002,” the letter states.
During the year between awarding the contract to IAP and when the company started, “skilled government workers apparently began leaving Walter Reed in droves,” the letter states. “The memorandum also indicates that officials at the highest levels of Walter Reed and the U.S. Army Medical Command were informed about the dangers of privatization, but appeared to do little to prevent them.”
The memo signed by Garibaldi requests more federal employees because the hospital mission had grown “significantly” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It states that medical command did not concur with their request for more people.
“Without favorable consideration of these requests,” Garibaldi wrote, “[Walter Reed Army Medical Center] Base Operations and patient care services are at risk of mission failure.”
The VA problems are deplorable and IMO we're all to blame for them.
But the Walter Reed fiasco has Bush's fingerprints all over it. Now the big cover-up is on. In a few weeks it will blow over and that will be the end of it.
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