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Adm. defends Lejeune hospital quality of care

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The admiral in charge of Navy hospitals in the east region said Tuesday the quality of care at the hospital in North Carolina is excellent.

Rear Adm. Bob Kiser said he had “no concerns about the quality of care” at the Camp Lejeune hospital.

Public questions about the quality of mental health care at the base were raised last year by the September firing of Dr. Kernan Manion, a brain trauma specialist who says he was fired after he had complained to commanders about inadequate care and weak security.

Kiser commands 15 hospitals on the East Coast, Gulf Coast, Great Lakes and in Europe. He spent two days visiting the hospital to discuss its December quality assurance review.

“The review found that the quality of care that is available for the Marines and sailors and family members at Camp Lejeune is quite high, and that there were no specific issues identified,” Kiser said.

Kiser said the results of the review are protected by privacy laws and could not be made public.

Manion, 59, has 25 years of experience as a psychiatrist with a specialty in traumatic brain injury. Manion said he was fired last year from his contract position for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care for Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Manion’s performance review was finished in November, two months after he was fired, giving him a rating of “satisfactory” in every category.

But the review was pulled back by the head of mental health at the hospital and changed, according to a Salon.com report. His ratings for judgment, ethical conduct and ability to work with peers were changed to “unsatisfactory,” and it was ordered that Manion’s positive review be destroyed, the report states.

Kiser said the review process includes input from different points of view and that until it is signed by the commanding officer it is not the final review. The admiral said any drafts are not official.

“This idea that something was changed or altered reflects a misunderstanding of the process,” Kiser said.

Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican whose district includes Camp Lejeune, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a probe by the Defense Department, not the Navy, into Manion’s firing and of the mental health care at the base. The Defense Department’s Inspector General opened an investigation last week.

Manion, in an e-mail to the Associated Press, said he is relieved that a new investigation into his firing is underway.

“A five-month investigation that didn’t even interview me, the principal complainant, and one that must remain secret is highly suspect,” Manion said. “Congressman Jones was emphatic that he wanted this investigation removed from Navy’s influence; Rear Admiral Kiser’s comments make it clear why.”

Related reading

• DoD will review Lejeune mental health care

• Lejeune psychiatrist: Complaints led to firing