WALTER REED: THE REAL STORY

The Chaplain

[gate2wire]

"What I am furious about is that the media is making it sound like all of Walter Reed is like building 18. Nothing could be further from the truth."


Great article Ping.

[cyclotic]

Wow,

Thanks for posting this. It sheds much light on the situation and thanks to Chaplain John L. Kallerson laying it out for us.

[FReepaholic]

Key points:

...What they don't want you to know is Congress caused many problems by the BRAC process saying they were closing Walter Reed. We cannot keep nor attract all the quality people we need at Walter Reed when they know this place will close in several years and they are not promised a job at the new hospital.

Then they did this thing call A76 where they fired many of the workers here for a company of contractors, IAP, to get a contract to provide care outside the hospital proper. The company, which is responsible for maintenance, only hired half the number of people as there were originally assigned to maintenance areas to save money...

[JB in Whitefish]

" His leaders responsible for outpatient care did not tell him about conditions in building 18."


....well, SOMEbody was playing CYA and let the situation get out of hand.

Regardless of the fallout in the upper ranks of the Army, this is an EXCELLENT opportunity to get things noticed and FIXED at YOUR local military or VA hospitals. Strike while the iron is hot.

[or post here as if it were going to make ANY difference]

By way of example, here is my latest "guest opinion" for my local paper:

A recent Daily Inter Lake editorial wisely cautioned our politicians not to use the VA’s health care system as the latest political football for partisan gain. This of course fell on deaf ears. In order to make any kind of reasonable attempt to improve the status quo also requires a firm basis of knowledge of the internal workings of that system. This is not the time to skim the surface of the issues, deploy for photo ops, or spout platitudes for sound bites.

Nonetheless that’s precisely what Senator Jon Tester did in Helena recently in response to the Walter Reed fiasco. The loss to Montana Veterans of Senator Burns and his skilled staff is just beginning to rear its ugly head. Tester further underlined his woefully inadequate engagement in these critical issues by noting that three months into his rein he’s finally hired someone who may have a clue about how Veterans are treated. That’s handy. At this rate we can expect several years of lag time as Tester pretends to be concerned while exhibiting a near-perfect ignorance concerning the matters at hand. His Johnny come lately realization that he’s supposed to be serving the country via his seat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee becomes doubly troubling in that light.

Montana’s Veterans need more than an occasional pat on the head, Mr. Tester. Some of us are very sick. The rest of us are tired of the bureaucratic runarounds we encounter almost without exception. According to Tester, “the VA hospital here is a Montana jewel and should be used as an example for similar health-care centers across the country.” Unfortunately, this proves that when he visited Fort Harrison, he inspected the wrong building.

Don’t get me wrong. The long-suffering VA Doctors and Nurses do the best they can with what our stingy congress allows them. I literally wouldn’t be alive had I not had a slew of medical procedures performed at VA facilities around the country over the last five years. It’s not the kind of medical care which is lacking, it’s the amount available for our veterans to share that’s compounded by an uncaring administrative “half” of the VA system where the problems arise. The red tape barricades may not be visible to the uninformed observer, but they are the real reason so many Veterans give up trying to get medical care through the VA. While the self-serving “deny, denigrate & delay” tactics probably make the outfit look good on paper, it’s the sad truth that it matters not what level of care you are provided if you can’t even get on the list. This impacts our most needy Veterans the hardest because they are the least able to outwait the bureaucratic mind games as their health declines. Ask anyone who has survived the hassles inherent in attempting to be adjudicated “service connected” for any illness. There is a diabolical unwritten rule that the administrative and medical “halves” of the VA shall avoid productive communication at any and all costs!

Here’s some hard data Jon Tester overlooked as he “spin cycled” Fort Harrison:

** There are currently more than 107,000 Montana Veterans. Our single VA Hospital in Helena has 50 beds. This generates long waiting lists and equally long travel for most Veterans. For instance, there are a grand total of two dentists at Fort Harrison for the entire state. If you are lucky enough to be shipped out of state for procedures not covered here, you will find the “travel agents” in Miles City to be consistently inefficient and rude. Be prepared for a lengthy bus ride if you can’t drive yourself to Denver or Salt Lake.

** Montana supplies a disproportionate percentage of Army Reservists and National Guard Troops in Afghanistan & Iraq, ranking fourth in the nation. In 2005, Montana was dead last in the percentage of VA visits provided for mental health care. Post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is the most prevalent mental health malady emerging from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan and one of the top illnesses overall. The gritty reality of urban warfare triggers older Veterans’ PTSD as well, resulting in an ugly sort of “competition” pitting young and old against each other over available slots in already overburdened facilities. In 2006, the VA’s own internal review stated, "We can't do both jobs at once within current resources."

There will be more illnesses and clinical visits in the foreseeable future generated by the 1.4 million people who have served in the Global War on Terror since 2001. Montana is the fourth largest state geographically and has one of the largest per capita veteran populations. Immediate action is in order, not lip service, if we are to keep pace.

Max Baucus appears to be oblivious to the entire situation. Mr. Tester has obviously never seen a top notch military facility such as the San Diego Naval Hospital if he thinks they should all follow suit after Fort Harrison. Denny Rehberg and his staff have helped me and other Veterans immensely with some very sticky problems regarding the VA Health System. While one out of three is better than none, ALL Montanans need to bear in mind that our Veterans produce much more than hot air when called to duty. Some gave all. Is this really the best we can do in return?

[USN 1967-70, 100% Service Connected Disabled]

[Egon]

Ping. Sure is a bit different than the story we've been getting.

[stuartcr]

Why anyone would even consider BRACing a military hospital during a war, is beyond me.

[Shimmer128]

I found this interesting and informative.

[FreedomPoster]

Please fix the typo in the article title.

I have a feeling this is one that outsiders may be looking at.

[Dionysius]

Yeah, old Waler was a pal of mine; he used to cry a lot but only when he fell off the wagon.

[Western Phil]

"Why anyone would even consider BRACing a military hospital during a war, is beyond me."

I may be wrong, but I think it was on the list since before the war.

[battleax]

bttt

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for posting this letter.

Ping

[ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY]

The way the media reported it, the conditions described were in the HOSPITAL rooms, but the video they were showing made clear to anyone who's served in the military that it was TLQ (temporary lodging quarters)! IOW, an on-post motel. As for the conditions, they were indeed shabby, but I've recently seen several college dorms in similar shape! IMO, this is just more military-bashing by the MSM, masquerading as "concern for the troops."

[sgtbono2002]

Just another media attack on George Bush and like most of them is based on a pack of lies.

[Yo-Yo]

This is what Harvey, Weightman, and Kiley should have been saying instead of just quitting.

[vietvet67]

Watch the good chaplain catch holy hell for expressing himself...

[stuartcr]

That may be true, but it seems that in time of war, it could have been changed if the right person said so.

[Prost1]

Thanks for posting.

I was wondering why I did not hear of any Sgt Majors being canned. Now, it is clear that they and a few Mst Sgts are enjoying retirement.

The Sgt Major is supposed to be the enlisted man's top representative. When he fails to do that, S**t happens.

[KantianBurke]

"I didn't even know we had a building 18."

But he's CERTAIN that contrary to testimony from soldiers, their families and Sec Def Gates kicking a## and taking names, all's well in Walter Reed land. Please.