Tripler on Army inspection list
Staff and news service reports
U.S. Army officials plan to visit Tripler Army Medical Center and 10 other military health care facilities to inspect outpatient care, building conditions and the information provided to patients.
The Army announced the plans yesterday in the wake of revelations about problems at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The teams of inspectors will include Army officers and civilian employees of the Army's medical command, Army officials said yesterday. They will also study medical administrative procedures.
Tripler spokeswoman Mindy Anderson said the facility welcomes the visit, ordered by the Army's surgeon general.
"We want them to come and tour and see our barracks, to see our medical hold process," Anderson said. "We want them to come see this because we are doing an excellent job at Tripler."
Anderson said there is no information on when the team will arrive in Hawaii.
She said there are 28 active duty and 50 reserve and National Guard servicemembers who are on what is known as "medical hold" or "medical holdover" status and are undergoing physical and/or occupational therapy at Tripler.
The other facilities to be visited are:
» Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart, Ga.
» Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Ga.
» Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky.
» Ireland Army Community Hospital at Fort Knox, Ky.
» Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic, Fort Drum, N.Y.
» Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, N.C.
» Darnall Army Community Hospital, Fort Hood, Texas
» Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas
» William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, Texas
» Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Wash.
The announcement of the inspections comes after a second day of Congressional hearings on the problems faced by troops engaged in long recoveries and receiving outpatient care at Walter Reed. The problems were reported in a series of stories by the Washington Post last month.
Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima and the Associated Press contributed to this report.