Walter Reed's troubles don't bode well for vets

[babylonsister]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWSREC010201/703070313/1013/NEWSREC0202

Walter Reed's troubles don't bode well for vets


Soldiers back from fighting a war shouldn't have to fight their own government to get adequate medical treatment and well-deserved disability benefits.

The Washington Post's expose of squalid conditions and bureaucratic bungling at Walter Reed Hospital graphically confirms accusations that the wounded often are either ignored or receive subpar medical care.

If that can happen at the nation's flagship military medical facility, what can vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan expect from military hospitals closer to home?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates acted properly in swiftly firing the top brass deemed responsible, but underlying reforms must be forthcoming so that returning troops are assured first-class medical assistance.

What amounts to a massive management failure can only be rectified by demanding top-level accountability. Just singling out a handful of generals as scapegoats won't solve numerous deep-seated problems. Whether there is a congressional or presidential inquiry, chronic hospital understaffing, bureaucratic snafus and a puzzling lack of caring must be addressed.

And the troubles at Walter Reed may be just a precursor to hurdles to be faced later when medical treatment or disability compensation for service-related injuries are sought.

more...

[Monkeyman]

1. We are looking at waiting list red tape and will have to wait for a new President

Bush is all talk

[bigtree]

2. It would be good to look at where the money that's been spent has actually gone

[loyalsister]

3. There is a larger problem here......

"The outrage misses a deeper structural problem with how health care is delivered in the military and more generally how health care is delivered in the U.S."

http://www.johnhockenberry.com/Blog/DEEA6E68-D0E8-4C64-A11F-A62F3D1A9155.html

This is an important observation of how technology and acute care has "produced" the disability rehab requirements that the U.S. is unprepared\unwilling to provide for.

This applies to civilians as well as veterans.