Army surgeon general forced to retire

AJChenMPH

Forum Health Inspector
Whoa... :shock: I was wondering whether or not he'd survive this. Apparently not. What kind of justice would it be if they named Weightman to the post?

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Army surgeon general forced to retire
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer

The Army forced its surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, to retire, officials said Monday, the third high-level official to lose his job over poor outpatient treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Kiley, who headed Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, has been a lightning rod for criticism over conditions at the Army's premier medical facility, including during congressional hearings last week. Soldiers and their families have complained about substandard living conditions and bureaucratic delays at the hospital overwhelmed with wounded from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kiley submitted his retirement request on Sunday, the Army said in a statement.

"We must move quickly to fill this position — this leader will have a key role in moving the way forward in meeting the needs of our wounded warriors," Acting Secretary of the Army Pete Geren said in an Army statement.

Geren asked Kiley to retire, said a senior defense official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was not involved in the decision to ask Kiley to retire, the official said.

Kiley's removal underscored how the fallout over Walter Reed's shoddy conditions has yet to subside. Instead, the controversy has mushroomed into questions about how wounded soldiers and veterans are treated throughout the medical systems run by the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs and has become a major preoccupation of a Bush administration already struggling to defend the unpopular war in Iraq.

"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said in Monday's Army statement. He said he wanted to allow officials to "focus completely on the way ahead."

The conditions at Walter Reed were detailed last month by The Washington Post. Since then, Gates has forced Army Secretary Francis Harvey to resign and Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was in charge of Walter Reed since August 2006, was ousted from his post.

A number of investigations have been ordered.

President Bush appointed a bipartisan commission to investigate problems at the nation's military and veteran hospitals, and separate reviews are under way by the Pentagon, the Army and an interagency task force led by Nicholson.

In a briefing Thursday for reporters at the medical center, top Army officials said they have moved to fix some of the problems at Walter Reed.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said that officials have added caseworkers, financial specialists and others to work with soldiers' families on problems they have related to the injuries such as getting loans or help with income taxes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/walter_reed_8
 
Military medical services here are very bad as well. When I injured both of my knees they weren't so interested in how to get me treated but how to get rid of me as quickly as possible.
So I just had to get better quicker than they could throw me out. They nearly beat me but not quite. Basically returned to my unit as soon as I could walk in a straight line (which took about 3 months).
 
This is bullspit political head hunting IMHO the fault for all the medical facilities deficits in care and staffing lie with Congress. THEY should be the ones whose heads are rolling.
 
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