US Army’s Top Hospital Faces Criticism over Maintenance

US Army’s Top Hospital Faces Criticism over Maintenance
February 22, 2007By voanews
The U.S. Army’s second in command says he is disappointed in the living conditions that wounded soldiers endure at the Army’s main hospital for the wounded.
A newspaper investigation in Washington, D.C. revealed what it called neglect of the soldiers, and frustration among those soldiers and their families. The Army is promising action and some in Congress want an investigation. VOA’s Jim Fry reports:
Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. prides itself as the Army’s premier health care facility for the nation’s war wounded. The Army holds out as an example, the amputee center — where soldiers receive the latest computerized artificial limbs. But just across Georgia Avenue is a residence for recuperating soldiers known only as Building 18. Here The Washington Post found soldiers who wait months – even years — for follow-up care or discharge from the Army. Some live in substandard conditions, with black mold, damaged walls and holes in ceilings.