War Casualties Overflow Walter Reed Hospital

[kskiska]

Officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are referring some outpatients to nearby hotels because casualties from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have overloaded the hospital's convalescence facility.

"We have an informal agreement with any number of hotels in the area. If we come to this point, they will take for us," said Walter Reed spokesman Jim Stueve. "They're very supportive and cooperative when we need that assistance."

Mr. Stueve could not specify how many soldiers are in hotels, but said Walter Reed is referring about 20 patients or their relatives to hotels each day. Hotels in Silver Spring, just across the D.C. line, offer discounted rates for outpatients and their families, and the military pays the bill.

However, the hotel arrangement has not compromised the quality of care for incoming wounded, Mr. Stueve said.

more…
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20030804-121425-6485r.htm

[DagmarK]

1. They're being put in HOTELS?????????

Do medical caregivers go with them??????


Why don't they start their own little Rummy McDummy House for the soldiers and their families?? UGH! Sorry...couldn't resist.

[PartyPooper]

2. Why hasn't this been widely reported?

I guess I know the answer. Walter Reed is packed full of casualties. And, God forbid, the American people and the world should know the truth.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush visited 6 soldiers recovering at Bethesda Naval Center on Saturday...during his annual physical.

Gee, Mr. president, why not visit more troops when it is not quite so convenient? And, how about attending just a couple of funerals, too? Do you think you can manage that between fund-raisers?

[DemBones DemBones]

3. I'm envisioning a great sketch for SNL, showing Bush* making a

fund-raising speech at a funeral. Flag-draped casket in front of his podium, etc. Cheney at the door collecting the money.

[JoFerret]

10. Reminds me of that

great Steve Bell cartoon in the Guardian showing Bushie in a tank megaphoning "Four more years" while exhausted soldiers retrieve a dead body from the side of a road in Iraq.

[ze_dscherman]

17. Good one - link here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,999457,00.html

[maggrwaggr]

5. he doesn't have time to visit the wounded. He's on vacation!

Another precious precious vacation for the slacker-in-chief

[FireHeart]

6. Our people die and Dubya goes...

fishing.

What more needs be said?

[SpiralHawk]

8. But at least Bush won't tie up vital medical resources this month

having his anal cyst checked, or anything. He's out at the Pig Farm in Texas having a FTIKKING MONTH-LONG VACATION while America's sons and daughters get shot up overseas for the sake of his oil empire.

[shirlden]

13. The idiot son of an a$$hole

Is just doing as Daddy did. Do you all remember that Poppy Bush was bouncing over the waves of the Cape in his fishing boat while our soldiers were dying ?? If I remember correctly, Poppy took the most vacation days of any Prez in history. Junior wants to out do Poppy at everything. America's number one dysfunctional family proves once again they don't give a rat's a$$ for anyone but themselves.

:crazy:

[nuxvomica]

11. I don't want * visiting the wounded

They have enough to deal with. I'm serious. What kind of stupid, off-the-cuff remarks might he say to these poor fellows. I'm sure his handlers are afraid he'll say something to piss someone off.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. What a great photo-op that would be! LOL!

He would say something totally inappropriate, as is his wont, to some poor guy in pain and on serious drugs and the guy would go for his throat! He would require extra Secret Service if he ever dared attempt this.

[celestia671]

4. Hmmm....

Wonder if Dubya has even darkened the doorway of Walter Reed? It's the least he can do, considering that the young people there now owe all of their injuries to him.

That being said, maybe he's afraid to go there!

[treepig]

19. my double-secret, undisclosed sources tell me

(and i'm being completely serious, if a little vague, here) that the last time mr. bush visited walter reed was back in february.

for those of you keeping score, you'll realize that was before the iraq attack, so who was he visiting? well, it turns out there was a goodly number of (unreported) casualties from afghanistan there at that time (and likely still are). add on all the iraq casualties (most of whom are at least initially treated in germany) and it's easy to see why there's an accomodation problem.

[pfitz59]

7. Bush* as Patton.........

Visiting the wounded: "Get up you pussy! Why I used to pull all-nighters and still make it to flight school the next day! Dammit, that traffic was hell! Why don't you grow my father's cajones and get back there to kill some Iraqians for the good of my bank account! Whining little sissy! Didn't you see me strut my manhood on the Abelslom Lincohen! Get off your butt and go die for me and my big Dick!"

[revcarol]

9. Ya have to go for physcal therapy at Walter Reed?

Yeah, that military car will pick you right up and take you there? NO military car? Gotta take a taxi at your own expense? Tough, buddy.

Can't get in and out of the taxi by yourself,need help? Well, all those taxi drivers will become experienced someday in how to help, doncha know...

The hotel won't cater to the special diet you need?Well, just get yourself a hot plate and fix it yourself, AFTER you manage to shop at a store miles away.After all, you're only convalescing. Ya wouldn't want to take up a bed for a seriously wounded guy, would ya? You've been re-categorized, wounded, second class.

[MaineDem]

12. Send this article to Congress

Everyone should send this article to Senators and Congressperson. This news HAS to get out.

We're not hearing a thing about most casualties. In fact, there was an article in Newsweek that said many people really think that the carrier photo-op DID mean the end to fighting in Iraq. How stupid can people be?

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. how stupid?

About as stupid as Karl Rove knows they are.

[GoldenOldie]

15. Walter Reed Overflow

Having worked in a military medical facility for many years and knowing the DC area, this is a national disgrace.

Walter Reed military medical complex is considered to be the private hospital/medical complex for all those Generals/Admirals both active and retired. Rooms/suites are held, to be used only for VIP's - you can bet they will not be used by the lowly masses of maimed and disabled military.

Wonder boy had time to do a photo-0p of him wearing wings he did not earn, wearing a flight suit that made him look like a total jerk, riding as a - passenger - on a plane that he never flew, landed on the flight deck. All of this bravado had to have been planned, rehearsed much like a major theatre production. Yet, wonder boy has not taken the few minutes it would take to walk from the Whitehouse to that lil ole helicopter and fly to Walter Reed Army Hospital only a few short miles away to thank the military who shed their blood for him and cronies.

What a sad and pathetic little man who sits in the WhiteHouse and where or where is the media who eagerly sits on Jessica Lynch's lawn waiting for her full story. They have a greater story right in DC and they haven't the guts to write it.

Support the troops - my ass. It's much like the abortion issue, save the fetus ignore the child. Preach patriotism, extol the bravery on-camera, ignore the aftermath of war on the individual trooper.

[GoldenOldie]

16. Walter Reed Overflow

Having worked in a military medical facility for many years and knowing the DC area, this is a national disgrace.

Walter Reed military medical complex is considered to be the private hospital/medical complex for all those Generals/Admirals both active and retired. Rooms/suites are held, to be used only for VIP's - you can bet they will not be used by the lowly masses of maimed and disabled military.

Wonder boy had time to do a photo-0p of him wearing wings he did not earn, wearing a flight suit that made him look like a total jerk, riding as a - passenger - on a plane that he never flew, landed on the flight deck. All of this bravado had to have been planned, rehearsed much like a major theatre production. Yet, wonder boy has not taken the few minutes it would take to walk from the Whitehouse to that lil ole helicopter and fly to Walter Reed Army Hospital only a few short miles away to thank the military who shed their blood for him and cronies.

What a sad and pathetic little man who sits in the WhiteHouse and where or where is the media who eagerly sits on Jessica Lynch's lawn waiting for her full story. They have a greater story right in DC and they haven't the guts to write it.

Support the troops - my ass. It's much like the abortion issue, save the fetus ignore the child. Preach patriotism, extol the bravery on-camera, ignore the aftermath of war on the individual trooper.

[kskiska]

18. Walter Reed had no trouble

accommodating Strom Thurmond. He lived there as if it were a hotel.

[dusty64]

20. Hmmmmmmm, and SO little

coverage in the corporate media.

[Barrett808]

21. Iraq casualties keep Landstuhl full

Iraq casualties keep Landstuhl full
By Marni McEntee, Stars and Stripes

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is receiving more than twice the number of patients from Operation Iraqi Freedom that it did during the major combat phase of the war.

An average of 48 patients a day were being treated last week, compared with 22 patients a day in March, said Col. David Rubenstein, who relinquished command of the hospital last week for a new post.

Of those patients admitted, about 5 percent were combat-related injuries, “although that’s starting to grow a bit,” Rubenstein said last week, referring to continued attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. During major combat, which officially ended May 1, 40 percent of Landstuhl’s patients had battle injuries.

Last Thursday, 140 patients arrived at the hospital from Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Air Force Maj. Kenny Fink, director of Landstuhl’s Deployed Warrior Medical Management Center. “As far as I know, that was the largest number of patients arriving from OIF in one day,” he said Monday.

The center processes every patient from OIF and Operation Enduring Freedom, the military campaign in Afghanistan.

The hospital, the largest military medical center outside the United States, remains at its 322-bed capacity, nearly twice the number of pre-war beds.

As of Monday, the hospital was handling 400 OIF and OEF patients, Fink said. The increasing patient load comes with no sign of relief.

(more)

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=16589

[Gloria]

22. My freeper Mother had Drudge up this morning and a headline about

this was up! I didn't see the story, but the headline was way up near the top of the page with the important stuff, like the Leno makeover by Queer Eye or some crap like that!