US:The US's most illustrious military hospital has promised to take urgent action to address filthy living conditions and a chaotic bureaucracy that has driven soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to depression and attempted suicide.
Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington started emergency repairs on outpatient living quarters this week after the Washington Post revealed that almost 700 wounded soldiers are living in buildings infested with cockroaches and stained carpets speckled with mouse droppings.
The wounded soldiers, many of whom have had limbs amputated, have been discharged from hospital beds in Walter Reed's spotless, technologically advanced surgical hospital and are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty. More than five years of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq has put so much strain on the hospital that outpatients and their relatives are housed in converted hotels and apartment buildings nearby.
The wounded soldiers, who suffer from brain injuries, organ and back damage, severed limbs and post-traumatic stress disorder, stay an average of 10 months but some have been there for two years.
"We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it. We don't know what to do," Marine Sgt Ryan Groves, a 26-year-old amputee who spent 16 months at Walter Reed, told the Washington Post.
A four-month investigation by the paper found that unqualified and overworked staff failed to provide the most basic services, such as feeding patients' relatives and replacing bloodied uniforms that had been ripped off during medical treatment.
Alcohol abuse and depression are common and a number of wounded soldiers have attempted suicide.
Walter Reed's commander, Maj Gen George Weightman, acknowledged that some of the delays were caused by the army's determination to retain as many injured soldiers as possible rather than discharging them. He said that the duration of continuous combat in Afghanistan and Iraq had placed unprecedented pressure on the army to avoid discharging wounded soldiers.
"This is the first time this country has fought a war for so long with an all-volunteer force since the revolution," he said.
Gen Weightman said conditions had improved in recent months, but he warned that President George Bush's decision to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq could mean "potentially a lot more" casualties coming to Walter Reed.
Few patients complain about their treatment in Walter Reed's surgical wards, which boast the most advanced medical equipment and a highly trained, dedicated staff. Many are left for months in outpatient accommodation, however, because of bureaucratic errors such as lost paperwork, including records that soldiers actually served in Iraq.