Inhospitable Conditions at Walter Reed

Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley (Left) and Major General George Weightman during congressional hearings on the Walter Reed scandal.

Hey all-
This story hit the news sometime last week, and it is disturbing. Witnesses have come forward reporting about "unsanitary" conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. These complaints have mainly involved one of the hospital's outpatient facilities, known as Building 18. In this facility, the witnesses testify, recovering soldiers share the living space with rats, cockroaches, and black mold. These organisms all have the potential to cause serious complications, especially in cases where the immune system is weakened, such as in patients recovering from war wounds.
This disgraceful situation has sent shockwaves through the army's chain of command, prompting the firing of both the hospital's commander, Major General George Weightman, and of the Secretary of the Army, Francis Harvey. Congress is now investigating the matter and the Bush Administration has promised a thorough investigation of the matter. These words do not seem hollow, as action is already being taken.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center is slated for closure as part of the military's 2005 round of base-closings. The duties of this facility will be taken up by the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, which will be expanded and renamed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This expanded and modernized facility is scheduled to be operational by the year 2011.
This entire situation is a disgrace to the military and to our government as a whole. To allow facilities for the wounded to fall into such disrepair and not take action to remedy the situation is an aberration that cannot be ignored any longer. It is an outrage and it shows a lack of honor that should be uncharacteristic of an institution such as the United States Army.