NBC 7/39 San Diego

May 25, 2007

Shalala: 'Our Wounded Deserve Better'

 

The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors met in San Diego Thursday to find out and make recommendations to President Bush.

The scandal over the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center exposed earlier this year brought down the careers of some of the highest ranking officers in the military including the secretary of the Army.

A Washington Post investigation revealed how some outpatient soldiers just back from war were subjected to squalid living conditions like mouse droppings and belly-up cockroaches as well as bureaucratic problems that prevented many from getting treatment.
The report lead many to question the quality of care at other facilities.

Co-chair of the presidential commission, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala appeared on NBC 7/39 "News This Morning" with Marianne Kushi.

Shalala told Kushi the commission has heard many stories about outpatient care.

"The military hospital and the veterans' hospital care itself is superb," said Shalala. "It's the follow-through, the outpatient experience."

When asked where the commission will start, Shalala responded that they will work to provide Bush with recommendations that are "doable."

"Our wounded warriors deserve better," she said, "They don't deserve the confusion."