Senators vow quick action on Walter Reed

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers promised a quick response and sought an independent commission as they expressed outrage Sunday over the poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'm worried about if it's this bad at the outpatient facilities at Walter Reed, how is it in the rest of the country? Because Walter Reed is our crown jewel," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.

In a letter Sunday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday, Schumer asked for an independent commission, possibly headed by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, to investigate all post-combat medical facilities and recommend changes.

"To think that men and women are serving their country in the most honorable and courageous way possible and all we give them is a dilapidated, rat-infested, run-down building to recover is a disgrace," Schumer wrote. "My fear is that Walter Reed is just the tip of the iceberg, and merely highlights the pervasive and systemic mistreatment of our service members."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/walter_reed

[mike_c]

1. how about "quick action" to end the mad dash to destruction in Iraq...?

:nuke:

[Greeby]

2. Somehow the Senate and quick action don't go together

:eyes:

[VWolf]

3. Cue Monty Python:

Right. This calls for immediate discussion ...

[rainbow4321]

4. There should have been a full investigation of the system when Dallas VA

hospital was caught giving crappy care:

Their problems date back to 2005

http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/dallas_va.htm

Medical students at the Dallas veterans hospital, which was recently ranked the worst in the nation, say its patients have been neglected, abused and sometimes left alone to die by incompetent and uncaring nurses.

"I would hate to be a patient under the care of any of the nurses at this institution," one student wrote in response to an annual survey by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Another characterized the quality of nursing at the Dallas medical center as "reprehensible," adding: "Patients are sometimes left to survive on their own without appropriate care."

The Dallas Morning News reported last week that the Veterans Affairs inspector general ranked the Dallas hospital as the worst veterans medical center in the country.

-------
Googling finds problems in a Denver VA from 2005, also:

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2005/01/03/daily47.html


U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is pushing for the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve its hospital in Denver.

The Democrat from Colorado announced her call for an improved facility after Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said that the hospital will not be moving to Fitzsimons.

The VA hospital in Denver was criticized last month in an inspection report that noted filthy conditions at the facility.

"Our first priority must be to provide Colorado veterans with the medical services and care they need," DeGette said in a statement. "We have recently learned that the VA foolishly neglected to meet proper standards at the current hospital in Denver because of the anticipated move. With Secretary Principi's decision not to relocate the facility to Fitzsimons, he must act promptly to significantly upgrade the Denver medical center."