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Walter Reed prompts DoD-wide review of care

Even as the Army reviews outpatient care procedures at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and 11 other posts, the Pentagon has ordered a senior-level review of medical care provided by all the services, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today.

Gates, who last week fired Army Secretary Francis Harvey over his handling of the administrative problems and poor living conditions for some outpatients at Walter Reed, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference that he has directed David S.C. Chu, undersecretary for personnel and readiness, and William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary for health affairs, “to comprehensively review all the departments’ medical care programs, facilities and procedures … to ensure that we’re providing all of our troops the standard of care they deserve.”

He said he has told those officials that resources will not be an issue. Gates did not provide a time line.

“After the war itself, fixing the problems associated with the care of our wounded is possibly our highest priority,” Gates said.

The problems are certainly getting a thorough review. In addition to the Army and Pentagon probes, and congressional hearings and pending legislation, President Bush has launched a bipartisan probe into the treatment of all wounded troops, both in the military and Department of Veterans Affairs health care systems.

Gates said he is focused on cutting through the institutional red tape soldiers and families have complained about in printed reports and broadcast testimony before Congress.

“I believe it’s important that we look at this from the perspective of the service man or woman, and not from the perspective of the bureaucracy,” Gates said. “The goal is a system and an institutional culture that is a powerful advocate for the needs of wounded soldiers and their families, not an adversary. It’s our duty to set the priorities, to allocate the necessary resources, to look for and find problems, fix the mistakes, make the bureaucracy work as it should for the people it’s supposed to serve.

“These responsibilities are particularly heavy in a time of war, and especially when it involves the care of men and women who’ve suffered and sacrificed so much for their country,” Gates said.

Gates said he has also told acting Army Secretary Pete Geren to brief him by the end of the week on the Army’s action plan for Walter Reed, and to provide timelines on changes in Walter Reed outpatient care.

Gates said he expects progress reports “every two weeks.”

Some details of the so-called “Army Action Plan” for Walter Reed are expected to be revealed Thursday afternoon at a news conference at the hospital. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody will provide the update, officials said.