Walter Reed medical chief relieved of command

[Dichotomy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17402872/


GOOD!!!

[rabbidrabbit]

sadly, I agree.

[Charon]

I guess my question would be, what kind of budget did he have to work with?

If he had the resources and screwed the pooch, that's one thing. If he didn't have the reources and didn't fight for more, to the point of going public or resigning then good riddance as well. But, that would point out a need to go beyond the public scapegoat.

Charon

[texasmom]

It's not a recent development that those facilities were in a poor condition.

[festus]

Originally posted by texasmom
It's not a recent development that those facilities were in a poor condition.

True but thats why it was BRAC'd.  I think some of the issue may have to due with resources. I know we are short of physicians in the military across the board, and probably with some ancillary services as well. I'd hate to be the follow on dude.

[DiabloTX]

debonair, good call.

You da 1337 hospital whistle blower, yo.

[tedrbr]

Scapegoat.

The problems in treating American wounded soldiers are LEGION.  

"Army Times" this week featured a story about the common "policy" or systematic practice of the Army low-balling disability ratings of wounded soldiers, who often don't know they can appeal (which is a lengthy convoluted process in it's own right) to receive limited benefits.  
Some think there is some in the Army who are trying to push off disabled soldiers off the Army programs and into the VA disability rating system, where the soldiers lose some other privileges, and not guarenteed a better rating or more money.

Then on the VA side of things, where we are six years into the "Long War", the planned budget is being cut or left flat, despite the large influx of veterans into the system.

This is only going to get worse.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Charon
I guess my question would be, what kind of budget did he have to work with?

If he had the resources and screwed the pooch, that's one thing. If he didn't have the reources and didn't fight for more, to the point of going public or resigning then good riddance as well. But, that would point out a need to go beyond the public scapegoat.

Charon

Agree.

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by festus
True but thats why it was BRAC'd.  I think some of the issue may have to due with resources. I know we are short of physicians in the military across the board, and probably with some ancillary services as well. I'd hate to be the follow on dude.

I spent 10 years working in the engineerng dept of a hospital. 5 of it as a supervisor.
the way we were set up there was alot of cross training so that each supervisor had at the very least a working knowledge of all the trades particularly as it pertained to hospitals.

Not speaking for everything But alot of what I saw in pictures lack of resourses is no valid excuse.
Alot of the stuff I looked at  was simple basic maintenence.
In a couple nothing more then some patching plaster and a paintjob to bring it up to hospital standard.
Couple others I spotted werent just hospital code violations but violate national fire code for smoke penetrations as well.

Few of the things I saw were particularly overly compicated or expencive to address

[Debonair]

it has been *2 years, almost exactly since that fateful day
4th grade field trip to the museum of medical deformities (or whatever they call it)
didnt knoe it at the time but i was getting the flu & probably had a good fever all day, so when i came to the leg i almost became my own hideous exhibit.
almost but not
its the only thing i remember from that trip
me vs leg
mano-a-lego
:aok  
:aokA WINNAR IS ME:cool:
 


p.s. i hope my 4th grade teacher mrs. greer got the flu from me & died

[tedrbr]

Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command as well as Walter Reed hospital, was relieved of command by Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey.

He's been there for SIX months.

Know who he is being replaced by?  The guy that was there SIX months ago, his predecessor.

Now, assuming that these problems at Walter Reed go back further than SIX months time........

[oboe]

Its getting deeper.   That name "Halliburton" sure comes up alot when scandal and corruption are being investigated.

In 2004, the Army determined that Walter Reed's federal employees could operate the medical center more efficiently than IAP Worldwide Services, which is operated by the former Halliburton executive, Al Neffgen, Waxman wrote. After IAP protested, the Army "unilaterally" increased the employees' estimated costs by $7 million, making IAP appear cheaper, Waxman said. Rules barred Walter Reed employees from appealing the decision, Waxman wrote, and in January 2006 the Army gave the contract to IAP.

According to an internal memo written by a senior Walter Reed administrator and obtained by Waxman, the decision to outsource to IAP led the center's skilled personnel to leave Walter Reed "in droves," fearing they would be laid off when the contractor took over.  In the last year, Waxman found, over 250 of 300 government employees left the center. The lack of staffing put patient care "at risk of mission failure," warned an internal Army memo obtained by the congressman.

Link to story

IAP is the company that got into trouble for its inability to deliver ice to Katrina victims.

I'm thinking more highly of this guy, Gates.

[Maverick]

Originally posted by tedrbr
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command as well as Walter Reed hospital, was relieved of command by Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey.

He's been there for SIX months.

Know who he is being replaced by?  The guy that was there SIX months ago, his predecessor.

Now, assuming that these problems at Walter Reed go back further than SIX months time........

I believe that is why Harvey is no longer in that position himself. It seems someone was reading the names of the last commanders. The "official" news story yesterday was that Harvey resigned. A statement made in the news cast was that he was likely "asked" to resign, It seems he did so in very very short order. I am wondering if they had a guard with him while he packed up his office. If Harvey hadn't just read back in the list of previous folks who didn't fix the problem he might have saved his job, a while.

While being relieved in 6 months may seem to be harsh, that commander had 6 months to see the situation himself. Indeed, he should have seen just about every facility in the compound in the first 2 weeks to a month. If he did nothing to make corrections or lobby for more $ to fix things, he as the commander, is liable for everything in his command. The buck stops there. If he didn't know, he should have. If he did know, he was negligent. In either case it's cause for relief. His career may be toast but he has a very nice pension already. He won't starve by any means.

[Gunslinger]

This makes ZERO sense.  Like previously mentioned they fired the commander that's been there for 6 months and then put the guy that ran it for several years previously back on the job.  

Pentagon officials said Gates was angry that as the scandal unfolded, the Army relieved the commander of Walter Reed, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who had only been in that job for about half a year, and replaced him with Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, the Army surgeon general, who had commanded Walter Reed before Weightman and was said by soldiers, their families and veterans' advocates to have long been aware of problems at the medical complex.

I'm not excusing Gen. Weightman, as a commander he is ultimatly responsible, but this is true army for ya.

As a former federal civil servant it comes as no shock to me what Oboe posted.  If the Facility went through an A76 study and lost, usually the private contracters take over and screw everyone.

[Blooz]

Wonder if anyone's looked at Bethesda.

I hope things aren't the same there.