Leaders take blame for wounded care woes - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Leaders take blame for wounded care woes

The Army’s vice chief of staff said Wednesday that a “breakdown in leadership” is responsible for the widespread administrative problems faced by some wounded war veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Meanwhile, the military’s top civilian health official said that while he was “surprised” to learn of the problems, he and other leaders are aggressively seeking solutions.

The problems at Walter Reed “are serious matters,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, during a Wednesday press conference at the Pentagon. “They deserve immediate attention, and they’re getting immediate attention.”

Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army's No. 2 leader, said “appropriate action is being taken to hold the leadership at every level accountable, as well as to ensure that they understand the standard, and we put the right people in charge, the right level of rank, the right level of responsibility. We want to immediately correct it, but also to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”

The Pentagon, clearly stung by recent media accounts of the problems at Walter Reed, announced late Tuesday the formation of an independent review group that will examine outpatient care and administrative processes at both Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The effort will run parallel to and be complemented by probes also announced Tuesday by the secretaries of the Army and Navy. Those efforts “have begun,” the Pentagon said.

No administrative problems have been reported at the Bethesda complex, and a second Pentagon official said operations there were being reviewed as a cautionary move since it is fairly close to Walter Reed, also provides treatment for wounded vets of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was mentioned anecdotally in the media reports. Nor has any criticism of the actual medical treatment at either facility has been raised.

But recent stories in The Washington Post and the Military Times newspapers and web sites reported that dozens of recovering vets were living in substandard conditions in an overflow facility outside the main Walter Reed campus, and that they and others faced miles of red tape while dealing with issues such as pay and benefits, lost records, medical evaluations and a lack of first-line supervisors.

The Post stories focused in part on “Building 18,” a 54-room Army-owned facility across the street from the main Walter Reed campus where nearly 70 recovering service members are being housed. The stories described some rooms in various states of disrepair, along with a rodent and cockroach infestation — a situation Cody said he should have been briefed on much earlier.

“I am disappointed that I had to learn about the conditions of that building through media reports, despite frequent visits to Walter Reed facilities, informal and formal discussions with patients and their families and the medical staff,” Cody said. “Clearly, we've had a breakdown in leadership, and the bureaucratic, medical and professional processes bogged down a speedy solution to these problems.”

Cody wouldn't identify where the breakdown in leadership took place. “I'll take responsibility and I'll make sure that it's fixed,” he said. “I can assure you that the appropriate vigor and leadership is being applied to this issue. And we will correct any problems immediately.”

Cody said no one has been relieved of command or fired over the problems. “We will do the right thing across the board as we continue to assess where the leadership failure and breakdowns were,” he said, adding that the problems were not due to a lack of resources.

He said he would personally oversee the upgrading of Building 18 and added that the building's name would soon be changed to something that better reflects the building's mission. “Referring to a place where our soldiers stay as Building 18 is not appropriate,” he said.

Tell us your ideas for renaming Building 18 here.

“We will do what's right for our soldiers and our families,” Cody added. “I will not be satisfied until we have a family assistance center at Walter Reed where it's one stop, it has an ‘easy button’, and families and the soldiers all can take care of their financial issues, their scheduling issues, their follow-up care issues. ... Right now, we're close to that, but it does not meet my standard or the leadership standard.”

Winkenwerder said “caring for and supporting the whole person” is just as important as the medical care a service member receives.

Members of the Pentagon’s independent review group have yet to be named, but it is expected to include “people from outside, perhaps some retirees,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday. He said Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants results within 45 days of the group's formation.

The group will have “unrestricted access to all facilities and personnel and will be provided appropriate assistance and administrative support,” according to the Pentagon. The group will also have a “special advisor” who can provide advice and expertise in the areas of social work, rehabilitation, psychological counseling and family support issues.

According to a senior defense official, the Pentagon review was initiated by Gates, who “was concerned about what he had read and heard about.”

Gates, who met with Army leadership on the issue Tuesday, has “a very strong desire to see this done in a very expeditious fashion,” the official said.

The media reports of conditions at Walter Reed quickly caught the eye of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and John Kerry of Massachusetts calling for legislation to improve the situation there.

“We owe our returning veterans a debt of gratitude, not substandard treatment at an overcrowded medical facility,” Kerry said in a statement. “The administration has consistently talked a big game but shortchanged the needs of veterans.”

The Times story documented waiting periods as long as 15 months for service members wounded in battle, as well as sinking disability payments The Post piece looked at buildings in disrepair, mandatory formations for wounded service members, and confusion about the process.

“Anecdotally, we’d heard some complaints before,” said Kerry spokesman Vincent Morris. “But the feeling was mixed because the care at Walter Reed is the best in the country. There was a groundswell of support for Walter Reed when the president announced plans to close it” as part of the latest round of base realignments and closures that was approved in 2005 and is now in motion.

The media coverage of the problems at Walter Reed, he said, brought the anecdotes into sharp focus.

“There are a lot of vets coming back who need help,” Morris said, adding that “Kerry saw those stories like everybody else.”

The legislation, sponsored by Obama and McCaskill and co-sponsored by Kerry, calls for:

* Simplifying the paperwork process for recovering troops.

* Increasing the number of case workers.

* Increasing case worker training.

* Requiring more frequent Inspector General reviews of the hospital and its care.

* Establishing timelines for facilities repairs.

* Providing psychological counseling.

* Reporting to Congress on the number of recovering soldiers and caseworkers, as well as average waiting time, suicide attempts, accidental deaths and drug overdoses.

Staff writer Kelly Kennedy contributed to this report.

Related reading:

Read the full text of Cody’s message to soldiers

Wounded and waiting: A slow medical evaluation process leaves many injured troops in limbo