Following reports that wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center experienced what President George W. Bush described as “bureaucratic delays and living conditions that are less than they deserve,” the commander in chief placed UM President Donna E. Shalala and former U.S. Senator Bob Dole on the case. Appointed in March, the bipartisan duo is leading the newly created President’s Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors.

“We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our fellow Americans who are serving our country in some of the most dangerous parts of the world,” Shalala says. “They deserve access to high-quality health care and other benefits and services as they transition from deployment to other military service or civilian life.”

President Shalala is a logical choice for the job. She served as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration for eight years—the longest term in our nation’s history. As the leader of a university that has a world-class medical school and partnerships with the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, she remains active in the current health care climate. She also teaches U.S. Health Care Crisis: Politics and Policies, an upper-level political science course in the UM College of Arts and Sciences that examines the problems our nation faces in cost and coverage.

Walter Reed is one of many military medical facilities to be scrutinized by the nine-member commission, which will consult with foundations, veterans service organizations, faith-based groups, and other sources to obtain a comprehensive analysis. First and foremost, Shalala says, is addressing soldiers’ needs.

“They don’t have time to waste while we debate who’s responsible here,” she says.