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thedrifter
04-09-07, 06:30 PM
Walter Reed newsletter reports improvements
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 9, 2007 15:14:05 EDT

The Army has created a newsletter detailing improvements at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in response to the deficiencies reported in Military Times and The Washington Post, as well as the congressional outcry to those problems.

In “Walter Reed NOW,” Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, newly appointed commanding general of Walter Reed, outlines improvements to hospital programs.

Schoomaker said the personnel section added four staff members this week to help with in- and out-processing, improved the ID card system so it can go to service members’ bedsides rather than forcing them to go to it, and streamlined the clothing-issue point. The newsletter said 47 soldiers on medical hold had been sized and issued new uniforms.

When the soldiers in Building 18 — the off-post facility with moldy walls and a vermin infestation — were moved onto the Walter Reed campus, the Army had to move the medical students who had already been living in the on-campus building because students may not be housed together with permanent-party soldiers. The students, according to the newsletter, have been moved to a gated, secure apartment complex with a swimming pool and fitness center.

A new program, “Do-It-Now,” has been created to immediately fix maintenance problems, and includes electricians, plumbers and painters. At Building 18, a new roof is being installed while the rest of the building is evaluated for repairs.

In addition, Walter Reed’s “Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade” will become the “Warrior Transition Brigade” April 25. Outpatient soldiers will be assigned to the new brigade, which will ensure soldiers make their appointments, are accounted for and have all their nonmedical needs met. All incoming cadre will go through a week’s worth of training this month.

“The last few months have been intense,” Schoomaker wrote in the newsletter. “As I reflect and ponder what we’ve accomplished and what is still ahead, I believe the responsibility and opportunity we at WRAMC have before us is awesome, yet clear.”

The newsletter will be posted each week at the Walter Reed Web site, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said.

Ellie