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Leadership changes at Walter Reed

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In the wake of a scandal over poor treatment of wounded soldiers, Army officials have announced plans to change the way the Walter Reed Medical Center is managed. As expected, the Army brass have named a physician, Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, to serve as commander of the military hospital. But the Army also plans to put a non-medical general as deputy commander of the hospital to oversee administrative affairs, tasked with making sure the hospital doesn't fail in its obligation to provide good outpatient treatment.

Taking a completely new direction, meanwhile, Army brass are creating a "Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade," a new unit tasked with taking care of outpatients which will be headed by an infantry officer fresh from Iraq. In addition, the Army leaders are refurbishing Building 18, a facility where outpatients stay, responding to complaints that the facility was in disrepair, dingy and dogged by mold and cockroaches.

To learn more about the situation at Walter Reed:
- read this article from the Washington Post

Related Articles:
Walter Reed officials knew about problems. Report
Panel votes to close Walter Reed Medical Center. Report

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Walter Reed needs to be run like a business. It is now being run the same way as Pentagon! Historically, Walter Reed has done so much for Medicine and has a terrific, dedicated staff. There is so much potential for both basic science and clinical research at Walter Reed. Closing the hospital is like removing the body to save a diseased limb. The government needs to cut out the diseased limb. ie. clean up the wards and put in new beds. It is good that the top brass was sacked. Walter Reed needs to employ trained managers, not generals to run the hospital. The problem of running a large organization with a central power not trained for hospital administration is that no one will take responsibility when things go wrong. It is essential to give overwhelming powers to unit chiefs, provide them the funding to run the department and hold them accountable to measurable outcomes. People usually take pride in their work and do it well when they are held responsible for their actions.

Now lets take a look at all the other VA Hospitals.

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