Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Diagnosis

Doctor Walter Reed, U.S. Army Specialist, discovered the cause of yellow fever in 1900. On May 1, 1909, The Walter Reed General Hospital was established in his honor in Washington, D.C.

Nearly a century later, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the 1977 successor to WRGH, assists in the recovery process for military personnel injured both physically or mentally in the line of duty.

Unfortunately, this hospital has taken a turn for the worse. A series, The Other Walter Reed, published by the Washington Post, which began February 2007, reveals the major problems and conflicts going on inside the brick walls of the Walter Reed center.

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility-Part One, February 18, 2007- Power Points:

"If they can have Spanish-speaking recruits to convince my son to go into the Army, why can't they have Spanish-speaking translators when he's injured?" Morales asked. "It's so confusing, so disorienting."

"Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commander at Walter Reed, said in an interview last week that a major reason outpatients stay so long, a change from the days when injured soldiers were discharged as quickly as possible, is that the Army wants to be able to hang on to as many soldiers as it can, "because this is the first time this country has fought a war for so long with an all-volunteer force since the Revolution."

"The best known of the Army's medical centers, Walter Reed opened in 1909 with 10 patients. It has treated the wounded from every war since, and nearly one of every four service members injured in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The Pentagon has announced plans to close Walter Reed by 2011, but that hasn't stopped the flow of casualties. Three times a week, school buses painted white and fitted with stretchers and blackened windows stream down Georgia Avenue. Sirens blaring, they deliver soldiers groggy from a pain-relief cocktail at the end of their long trip from Iraq via Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and Andrews Air Force Base."

"Shannon, who wears an eye patch and a visible skull implant, said he had to prove he had served in Iraq when he tried to get a free uniform to replace the bloody one left behind on a medic's stretcher. When he finally tracked down the supply clerk, he discovered the problem: His name was mistakenly left off the "GWOT list" -- the list of "Global War on Terrorism" patients with priority funding from the Defense Department. He brought his Purple Heart to the clerk to prove he was in Iraq."

Photo: www.narmc.amedd.army.mil