Blogging for Freedom

In the 1970's my mother-in-law had brain surgery to remove a tumor at Walter Reed Hospital.  Even then, I can remember the deplorable conditions of the rooms and antiquated equipment.  Rust and dust and mold were easily noticeable.  When my mother-in-law required a second surgery we made sure it was not done at Walter Reed. 

Fast forward to 2007 when the top brass of the military are "shocked" and "surprised" at the physical conditions of their military medical facilities - even their flagship Walter Reed.  Yesterday, March 4, witnesses testified as to their personal first-hand experience living the nightmare of military bureaucracy and sub-level medical and rehabilitative care.

Mold does not grow overnight.  Paint peels at a predictable rate when water drippage is constant. Lt. General Kevin Kiley, M.D., (above left) was the officer in charge from 2002 to 2004 when he was replaced by Maj. General Geaorge Wheightman (right above) who has held the post for the last six months. (For complete details see NY Times article "Soldiers testify to lawmakers over poor care at Walter Reed" by Michael Lud)

Patients, family care-takers and advocates and staff all testified that these problems had been brought to the attention of many levels of command.  One mother testified that she spoke to everyone she could and still got the run-around.  Patriotic soldiers are given only rudimentary instructions as to their future appointments.

From the New York Times article:

"Wearing a black eye patch, Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon described how he was struck in the head by a round from an AK-47 in November 2004 during a firefight near Ramadi, causing a traumatic brain injury and the loss of an eye.

Within a week of the injury, he was released to outpatient treatment, Sergeant Shannon recounted.

Despite being extremely disoriented, he said, he was given a map and told to find his own way to his new residence on the hospital’s sprawling grounds. He wandered into a building and received directions.

He then waited several weeks wondering whether anyone would contact him about additional treatment, eventually calling people himself until he reached his case worker.

He told of languishing in the hospital’s bureaucratic system that evaluates soldiers for continuing in active duty or becoming medically retired, and what benefits they should receive. His paperwork, he said, was lost repeatedly, forcing him to start over several times.

Specialist Jeremy Duncan, one ear shredded by a makeshift bomb, told of the moldy living conditions in Building 18.

“It wasn’t fit for anybody to live in a room like that,” Specialist Duncan said.

Annette L. McLeod, whose husband, Wendell, returned from Iraq with a head injury, spoke emotionally of her distress during his treatment.

“My life was ripped apart the day my husband was injured, and having to live through the mess we’ve had to live through at Walter Reed has been worse than anything I’ve had to sacrifice in my life,” Mrs. McLeod said through tears.

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said he was “extraordinarily angry and embarrassed” by the living conditions at the hospital, reported prominently last month by The Washington Post. His brother, Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, a senior medical officer, has now been named to command Walter Reed. The Army officials said extensive repairs were being made to deal with the deplorable conditions at one of the facilities on the hospital campus, Building 18, in which soldiers getting outpatient treatment at the hospital were found to be living in crumbling rooms soiled by mice, cockroaches and mold. Most of the soldiers living there, they said, have now been moved.

Accusations about shoddy treatment received by wounded soldiers at the prominent hospital, which is the centerpiece of the military’s medical system, have touched a public nerve and deeply embarrassed the military in the past few weeks. The Bush administration has been thrown on the defensive, and members of Congress have been quick to express outrage."

We should all be ashamed.