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It all began with one sentence: “Behind
the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan’s
room, part of the wall is torn and hangs
in the air, weighted down with black
mold.”
That sentence appeared in the February
18 article by Dana Priest and Anne
Hull in the Washington Post. It set off an
ongoing investigation into the treatment
of wounded Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans once they were released from
the Walter Reed Medical Center.
In the fallout, the Secretary of the
Army resigned, and the commanding
officer and others at Walter Reed were
removed. A bipartisan Commission on
Care for America’s Returning Wounded
Warriors was formed by the president,
headed by former Senator Bob Dole
and former U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala.
President George W. Bush visited
Walter Reed on March 30 where he
said, “I apologize for what they went
through, and we’re going to fix this
problem.”
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 Problems Across the Street
No one is questioning the quality of
medical care these soldiers are receiving
while at the hospital. It’s what happens
when they are relocated to outpatient
housing that is raising flags.
Building 18 is one of the culprits.
Built in the 1930s, it’s where soldiers are
released for ongoing care when they’re
ready to leave the hospital. The conditions
are less than acceptable for a
number of reasons, many of them laid
out in the Post report—mold, cockroaches,
long treks across the complex
for treatment and appointments. And
the list goes on.
Another independent commission,
appointed by Defense Secretary Robert
Gates and headed by two former secretaries
of the Army, issued a report in
April of this year calling for the closure
of Walter Reed as soon as possible.
The panel cited a “perfect storm” of
failed leadership, flawed policies and
overwhelming casualties that resulted
in the current situation. (Walter Reed
has been scheduled by the Defense Base
Realignment and Closure Commission
to be closed and its functions relocated
to the National Naval Medical Center
in Bethesda, Maryland, by 2011.)
Problems Throughout the Country
But the problems at Walter Reed extend
well beyond that 1,300-acre complex to
the entire network of Veterans’ Administration
hospitals throughout the
United States.
And that’s quite a network. According
the Web site of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, “VA’s health care system
now includes 154 medical centers,
with at least one in each state, Puerto
Rico and the District of Columbia. VA
operates more than 1,300 sites of care,
including 875 ambulatory care and
community-based outpatient clinics,
136 nursing homes, 43 residential rehabilitation
treatment programs, 206 veterans
centers and 88 comprehensive
home-care programs.”
In early March, a review of 1,400 VA
hospitals and other Veterans Affairs
facilities by the Department of Veterans
Affairs showed “1,000 reports of substandard
conditions—from leaky roofs
and peeling paint to bug and bat infestations—as well as a smaller number of
potential threats to patient safety, such
as suicide risks in psychiatric wards,”
reported the Washington Post as part of
its ongoing investigation.
And while the report found that 90
percent of the issues were routine,
there’s still that other 10 percent, which
were considered serious problems.
Since the Washington Post story broke,
the issue of veteran care is finding its
way onto the nightly news, special
reports and magazine and newspaper
covers. In short, there is no hiding from
this issue.
Apologies Are Not Enough
Since this story broke, we have heard
plenty of apologies. And they certainly
are merited. But the thing about apologies
is that, while it’s important to
acknowledge that a wrong was done,
it’s equally important to make amends.
That’s where we are now.
The soldiers and all of America have
heard the apologies. Now we want—and must demand—to know what happens
next. Apologies won’t erase the
bureaucracy so many veterans face in
getting treatment and benefits. “We’re
sorry’s” won’t provide them with ongoing
treatment for long-term injuries
any faster.
And while it’s important to take a
long, hard look at what went wrong at
Walter Reed, we shouldn’t get bogged
down in the business of finger-pointing
and reports. The government can form
all the commissions it wants, but if it
doesn’t come up with some answers, it’s
still failing our soldiers. They deserve
better. They have earned the right—and sacrificed in ways most of us can
only imagine—to receive proper treatment
in a timely and efficient manner.
Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Togo West put it this way: “These are
our sons and daughters and sister,
uncle and aunt, maybe even a grandparent
or two....Their families are our
families. We are their neighbors. Their
anguish is ours. We can and must do
better.”
As the daughter of a Korean War veteran,
I couldn’t agree more.
Building 18 is scheduled to be
demolished. Unfortunately, for many,
the damage has already been done. The
bigger question now is, where do we
go from here? There are still a lot of
soldiers—from this war and wars past—counting on us to find viable solutions
on the federal, state and local levels. For
all that they’ve sacrificed, we owe them
that much—and more.—S.H.B. |
