By David Nitkin
For years, the name Walter Reed - an Army hospital opened in 1909 -- was synonymous with stellar medical care.
But that changed in February 2007, after The Washington Post published the results of a four-month investigation into care of rehabiliting and returning soldiers at the aging campus on Georgia Avenue in the District of Columbia.
The investigation found moldy rooms, lax supervision and a Byzantine administrative system that left soldiers and their families fumbling for basic items such as new uniforms. The poor conditions were most prevalent in the out-patient housing, not in the hospital itself, which remains well-regarded for its life-saving treatments.
Now a new Walter Reed is being built, on the campus of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. The $970 million facility will consolidate treatment for all military branches at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Planning for the new facility was underway before the scandal broke, as part of the federal base realignment process.
Local officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, are concerned about the traffic from workers and visitors the expansion will generate, and are fighting for federal money for road improvements.
President Bush visited the Bethesda naval medical center today. Not for his annual physical, but to acknowledge the new construction. Bush - who appointed a blue-ribbon panel to examine veterans care after the Post stories - made no mention of Walter Reed's troubles today. Instead, he said he hoped the new hospital "will be the site of many miracles of healing."
"I love being with the healers and caregivers," Bush said before taking a gold-painted spade and flipping a ceremonial scoop of dirt. "Our success still relies on these anonymous heroes."
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Comments
Seven and a half years and thousands and thousands of veterans later and our good President finally realizes our Veterans are in need and deserving of our gratitude and our assistance. Let's keep our fingers crossed and maybe he will call our great troops home. Oh, that's right we have our Oil fields to protect and maintain. I meant, Iraqi Oil fields !! Please, hurry home, President Bush, Crawford needs you !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | July 3, 2008 1:25 PM
This is exactly why President Bush has been a disaster for this country. You don't expect miracles, you pray for them. You expect that anything and everything that could go wrong will. That's how you prepare for Karina's and invasions.
Posted by: jackson | July 3, 2008 2:00 PM
Instead of supporting our veterans and giving them the care that they were promised when they signed up, John McCain threw them under the bus in a grab for the Presidency, he sold out his own fellow veterans by voting against a $19 billion plan to help improve treatment at Walter Reed and other military rehab places. Who the heck does McCain think he's kidding when he talks about "purpose" when he refuses to give our veterans any kind of purpose?
http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/02/john_mccain_vot.php
Posted by: Wendy | July 3, 2008 2:13 PM
The most important miracle Walter Reed failed to do was giving Bush a head transplant in 2000.
Posted by: John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada | July 3, 2008 3:48 PM
"BUSH SPEAKS"
I STILL HEAR THE VOICES!
IRAQ IS STILL A "WORK IN PROGRESS"
HUNT OIL PROVES THE "RETURN ON SUCCESS"
IT WASN'T ALL FOR "PRIVATELY HELD OIL COMPANIES" AT THE EXPENSE OF THE AMERICAN TAX PAYERS!
WE HAVE BEEN "OUT-OF-STEP, MAYBE WE HAVE BEEN ON THE "EXTREMIST" SIDE OF THINGS!
BUT THAT IS WHY THEY CALL ME "BIG POPPY" IN THE REGION.
"POPPY IS UP"
THE TALIBAN IS ON THE MOVE!
YOUR SACRAFICE IS MY SACRAFICE! ME AND LAURA HAVE SACRAFICED A LOT TOO!
YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY "INJURED ONE"
PSTD IS JUST FOUR LETTERS
WE WILL "OVERCOME"
THIS TOGETHER!
REV. PARSLEY TOLD ME SO!
NO CAMERAS!
I SAID NO CAMERAS!
TAZE HIM!
I SAID TAZE HIM TOO!
TAZE THEM ALL!
IF THEY CAN'T TAKE A JOKE!
CRY BABIES!
AT THE END OF THE DAY WHO DO YOU BLAME!
ME! WELL TO BLAME ME, THAT REQUIRES A "COURT ORDER" AND A "EXECUTIVE ORDER"
I'M THE COMMANDER AND CHIEF! THE BUCKS STOP HERE! I HEAR THE VOICES,
NOW HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
GODBLESS AMERICA AND ME TOO! THANK YOU AND GOOD BYE!
Posted by: Roger Morris | July 3, 2008 4:56 PM