H
Harry Hope
Guest
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/gao-report-walter-reed-p_b_66050.html
September 26, 2007
GAO Report: Walter Reed Problems Have Not Been Fixed
By Paul Rieckhoff
Remember Walter Reed?
After the huge scandal last spring, President Bush and the members of
Congress promised to improve troops' care.
They promised to take action and get our wounded veterans the care
they were waiting for.
They promised to make things right.
Well, that promise has been broken.
This week, we got definitive proof that our nation's wounded veterans
are still waiting for government leaders to deliver much needed
resources.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/09/new-gao-report-.html
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office
(GAO), the response to shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center has been woefully inadequate.
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,67/option,content/task,view/id,2541/
This latest report joins the increasing chorus of bipartisan
commissions, http://www.pccww.gov/ independent review groups, and task
forces http://www1.va.gov/taskforce/ which all confirm that the DoD
and the VA are ill-prepared to meet the needs of returning
servicemembers.
Among its findings, the GAO concluded that there has been little
progress in rectifying staffing shortfalls, facilitating VA/DoD data
sharing, and streamlining disability evaluation systems.
Processing disability payments still takes an average of 177 days.
Furthermore, efforts to improve the care provided to servicemembers
with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,66/option,content/task,view/id,2422/
and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have also been largely
unsuccessful: only 6 of the Army's 32 Warrior Transition Units had
completed training for all staff.
(You can read the complete report here.)
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,67/option,content/task,view/id,2541/
The bottom line: the problems of Walter Reed have not been fixed.
Not even close.
More than seven months have passed since the major problems were
revealed by the Washington Post-- and after seven months, our veterans
continue to wait.
While Congress and the President went on vacation this summer, people
like my courageous friend Annette McLeod and her wounded husband
Wendell were paying the price for our governments negligence.
Our nation's heroes and their families deserve better.
Americans were outraged when they first saw the images from Walter
Reed.
It is time for them to be outraged again.
____________________________________________________
Well, rightards, waddya got to say?
Harry
September 26, 2007
GAO Report: Walter Reed Problems Have Not Been Fixed
By Paul Rieckhoff
Remember Walter Reed?
After the huge scandal last spring, President Bush and the members of
Congress promised to improve troops' care.
They promised to take action and get our wounded veterans the care
they were waiting for.
They promised to make things right.
Well, that promise has been broken.
This week, we got definitive proof that our nation's wounded veterans
are still waiting for government leaders to deliver much needed
resources.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/09/new-gao-report-.html
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office
(GAO), the response to shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center has been woefully inadequate.
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,67/option,content/task,view/id,2541/
This latest report joins the increasing chorus of bipartisan
commissions, http://www.pccww.gov/ independent review groups, and task
forces http://www1.va.gov/taskforce/ which all confirm that the DoD
and the VA are ill-prepared to meet the needs of returning
servicemembers.
Among its findings, the GAO concluded that there has been little
progress in rectifying staffing shortfalls, facilitating VA/DoD data
sharing, and streamlining disability evaluation systems.
Processing disability payments still takes an average of 177 days.
Furthermore, efforts to improve the care provided to servicemembers
with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,66/option,content/task,view/id,2422/
and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have also been largely
unsuccessful: only 6 of the Army's 32 Warrior Transition Units had
completed training for all staff.
(You can read the complete report here.)
http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,67/option,content/task,view/id,2541/
The bottom line: the problems of Walter Reed have not been fixed.
Not even close.
More than seven months have passed since the major problems were
revealed by the Washington Post-- and after seven months, our veterans
continue to wait.
While Congress and the President went on vacation this summer, people
like my courageous friend Annette McLeod and her wounded husband
Wendell were paying the price for our governments negligence.
Our nation's heroes and their families deserve better.
Americans were outraged when they first saw the images from Walter
Reed.
It is time for them to be outraged again.
____________________________________________________
Well, rightards, waddya got to say?
Harry
