VA ordering review of 1,400 clinics after Walter Reed controversy (AP)

[Eugene]

VA ordering review of 1,400 clinics after Walter Reed controversy

By Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer | March 12, 2007

WASHINGTON --The VA is ordering its 1,400 hospitals and clinics to report
on the quality of their facilities to determine if squalid conditions found
at Walter Reed exist elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a new Army inspector general's report released Monday blamed
poor training and conflicting policies among the Army and the Veterans
Affairs and Defense departments for problems in how injured soldiers are
evaluated for their return to military service or retirement.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson ordered the topdown review in an
internal memorandum sent last week to the VA's medical center directors.
He said "recent events" compelled him to redouble efforts to improve the
physical environment at outpatient center and medical facilities.

-snip-

Nicholson's moves come in the wake of disclosures of roach-infested
conditions and shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center,
one of the nation's premier facilities for treating those wounded in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also comes as Democrats newly in charge of Congress have questioned
whether Nicholson, a former chairman of the Republican National
Committee, is up to the job of revitalizing a veterans care system beset
with bureaucratic delays and poor coordination with the Pentagon.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/03/12/va_ordering_review_of_1400_clinics_after_walter_reed_controversy

[Monkeyman]

1. Nicholson Must GO NOW

[SoCalDem]

2. They could save money by giving each VA patient a piece of paper

and asking THEM to write out on one side, what they LIKE about the VA clinic/hospital...

and on the other side, what they HATE about it..

and to NAME NAMES !!

Then have a NON-VA official review the papers.

Having a "commission, or study group" sit around telling each other what a great job they are doing, won't get any "real" results.