The US Defense Department said it is reviewing the way wounded service members are cared for at military hospitals following disclosures of shocking bureaucratic neglect. "There's plenty of outrage," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, responding to a Washington Post report citing bitter complaints from veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington.
But he said the army was carrying out an investigation of conditions at the hospital and that there should be no doubt about President George W. Bush's commitment to veterans.
"The men and the women who have gone and fought for our country over there, they deserve the best care," Snow said.
The Pentagon said reviews of medical care at the premier military hospitals, Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center, have been launched by the army and navy's respective civilian chiefs.
An independent review group also will be formed to look into outpatient care and administrative process at the two hospitals.
The action followed an investigation by the Washington Post that found that seriously wounded service members treated as outpatients at Walter Reed lingered there virtually forgotten for 18 months or more because of bureaucratic snafus.
Walter Reed and the National Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland near Washington are both renowned for their care of soldiers with combat injuries.
But the Post said the poor treatment came later in the bureaucratic handling of some 700 people wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan who are being treated as outpatients but who are quartered on hospital grounds or nearby buildings.
The Post said some soldiers were staying in a building infested with mold and rodents and roaches.
In other cases, it took months for wounded soldiers to get disability pay or a decision on whether they would remain in the service.
"We are committed to improving the clinical and administrative processes, including improving temporary living conditions for our service members and families," William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said.
A senior US defense official, who asked not to be identified, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the review and that results be quickly reported.
Gates met with top army officials earlier in the day, the official said.
The army also is investigating allegations raised by the Post that a former official in charge of seeing that private donations got to wounded soldiers was at the same time raising funds for a private charity.
In the US Senate, Democratic lawmakers said they were appalled and called for legislation that would require inspections and other measures designed to improve conditions at military hospitals.
"The brave men and women wounded at war should receive the best we have to offer and the highest quality of care," said Democratic Senator Barack Obama, a presidential hopeful for the 2008 race and outspoken opponent of the Iraq war.
Obama and Senator Claire McCaskill said they would introduce a bill seeking to raise standards at military hospitals for returning soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The proposed "legislation would cut red tape, improve service, and require frequent inspections of all active duty military hospitals," Obama said in a statement.
