Some Military Perspective On The Walter Reed Hospital Situation

good stuff:

For those of you who do not know the complete list of  Allied Naval Signals,     BZ or "Bravo Zulu", it means well done, as in Good Stuff, fellow member. Today at NP we had received an email from a person who  wrote that the real story behind the scandal at the Walter Reed  Army Medical Center had not yet been told, and copied a statement purportedly from Chaplain John L. Kallerson Senior Chaplain Clinician Walter Reed Army Medical
Center.

I could not make heads or tails of it so asked John to have a look. This posting is a response. BZ, John!

____________________________________ 

And for those who want to try their hand, here is the full text:

Can't be quiet any longer. The rest of the
story!

This is from the Chief of Chaplains at Walter Reed. He provides an accurate
perspective of the Walter Reed issue.

I have had enough and am going to give my perspective on the news about
Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Please understand that I am speaking for myself
and I am responsible for my thoughts alone. The news media and politicians are
making it sound like Walter Reed is a terrible place and the staff here has been
abusing our brave wounded soldiers; what a bunch of bull!

I am completing my 24th year of service in the Army next month so you decide
for yourself if I have the experience to write about this topic. I have been the
senior clinical chaplain at Walter Reed for four years and will leave to go back
to the infantry this summer. I supervise the chaplain staff inside Walter Reed
that cares for the 200 inpatients, the 650+ daily outpatients from the war who
come to us for medical care, the 4000+ staff, and over 3000 soldiers and their
families that come for clinical appointments daily. Walter Reed has cared for
over 5500 wounded from the war. I cannot count the number of sick and non-battle
injured that have come through over that timeframe. The staff at this facility
has done an incredible job at the largest US military medical center with the
worst injured of the war. We have cared for over 400 amputees and their
families. I am privileged to serve the wounded, their families, and our staff.

When the news about building 18 broke I was on leave. I was in shock when the
news broke. We in the chaplains office in Walter Reed, as well as the majority
of people at Walter Reed, did not know anyone was in building 18. I didn't even
know we had a building 18. How can that happen? Walter Reed is over 100 acres of
66 buildings on two installations. Building 18 is not on the installation of
Walter Reed and was believed to be closed years ago by our department. The fact
that some leaders in the medical brigade that is in charge of the outpatients
put soldiers in there is terrible. That is why the company commander, first
sergeant, and a group of platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were relieved
immediately. They failed their soldiers and the Army. The commanding general was
later relieved (more about this) and his sergeant major has been told to move
on--if he gets to. The brigade sergeant major was relieved and more relief's are
sure to come and need to. As any leader knows, if you do not take care of
soldiers, lie, and then try to cover it up, you are not worthy of the commission
you hold and should be sent packing. I have no issue, and am actually proud,
that they did relieve the leaders they found who knew of the terrible conditions
some of our outpatients were enduring. The media is making it sound like these
conditions are rampant at Walter Reed and nothing could be further from the
truth. We need improvements and will now get them. I hate it that it took this
to make it happen.

The Army and the media made MG Weightman, our CG, out to be the problem and
fired him. This was a great injustice. He was only here for six months, is
responsible for military medical care in the 20 Northeast states, wears four
"hats" of responsibilities, and relies on his subordinate leaders to know what
is happening in their areas of responsibilities. He has a colonel that runs the
hospital (my hospital commander), a colonel that runs the medical brigade (where
the outpatient wounded are assigned and supposedly cared for), and a colonel
that is responsible to run the garrison and installation. What people don't know
is that he was making many changes as he became aware of them and had requested
money to fix other places on the installation. The Army did not come through
until four months after he asked for the money, remember that he was here only
six months, which was only days before they relieved him. His leaders
responsible for outpatient care did not tell him about conditions in building
18. He has been an incredible leader who really cares about the wounded, their
families, and our staff. I cannot say the same about a former commander, who was
my first commander here at Walter Reed, and definitely knew about many problems
and is in the position to fix them and he did not. MG Weightman also should not
be held responsible for the military's unjust and inefficient medical board
system and the problems in the VA system. We lost a great leader and passionate
man who showed he had the guts to make changes and was doing so when he was made
the scapegoat for others.

What I am furious about is that the media is making it sound like all of
Walter Reed is like building 18. Nothing could be further from the truth. No
system is perfect but the medical staff provides great care in this hospital.
What needs to be addressed, and finally will, is the bureaucratic garbage that
all soldiers are put through going into medical boards and medical retirements.
Congress is finally giving the money that people have asked for at Walter Reed
for years to fix places on the installations and address shortcomings. What they
don't want you to know is Congress caused many problems by the BRAC process
saying they were closing Walter Reed. We cannot keep nor attract all the quality
people we need at Walter Reed when they know this place will close in several
years and they are not promised a job at the new hospital. Then they did this
thing call A76 where they fired many of the workers here for a company of
contractors, IAP, to get a contract to provide care outside the hospital proper.
The company, which is responsible for maintenance, only hired half the number of
people as there were originally assigned to maintenance areas to save money.
Walter Reed leadership fought the A76 and BRAC process for years but lost.
Congress instituted the BRAC and A76 process; not the leadership of Walter Reed.

What I wish everyone would also hear is that for every horror story we are
now hearing about in the media that truly needs to be addressed, you are not
hearing about the hundreds of other wounded and injured soldiers who tell a
story of great care they received. You are not hearing about the incredibly high
morale of our troops and the fact that most of them want to go back, be with
their teammates, and finish the job properly. You should be very proud of the
wounded troopers we have at Walter Reed. They make me so proud to be in the Army
and I will fight to get their story out.

I want you to hear the whole story because our wounded, their families, our
Army, and the nation need to know that many in the media and select politicians
have an agenda. Forget agendas and make the changes that have been needed for
years to fix problems in every military hospital and the VA system. The poor
leaders will be identified and sent packing and good riddance to them. I wish
the same could be said for the politicians and media personalities who are also
responsible but now want it to look like they are very concerned. Where have
they been for the last four years? I am ashamed of what they all did and the
pain it has caused many to think that everyone is like that. Please know that
you are not hearing the whole story. Please know that there are thousands of
dedicated soldiers and civilian medical staff caring for your soldiers and their
families. When I leave here I will end up deploying. When soldiers in my
division have to go to Walter Reed from the battlefield, I know they will get
great medical care. I pray that you know the same thing. God bless all our
troops and their families wherever they may be. God bless you all,

+Chaplain John L. Kallerson Senior Chaplain Clinician Walter Reed Army
Medical Center