WASHINGTON, March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
transcript of remarks by President Bush on visit to Walter Reed Army
Medical Center:
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Washington, D.C.
2:12 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you all for joining
me. Every time I come to Walter Reed my spirits are lifted. They're first
lifted by the soldiers and Marines who are recovering from some very tough
wounds. I had the honor of pinning the Purple Heart on quite a few people
today, and I am always impressed by their resolve and their commitment to
the country. Every time I come to Walter Reed, I'm also impressed by the
care givers -- the docs, the nurses, the people who spend many hours trying
to heal those who have been wounded in service to our country.
The soldiers and Marines stay here only for a few months, but the
compassion they receive here stays with them for a lifetime. And so on
behalf of a grateful nation, I do want to thank our docs and our nurses and
care givers for providing extraordinary health care to the people who wear
the uniform. I know full well that the work you do is behind the scenes. In
other words, you don't get a lot of glory for what you do. But you
certainly do from the family members, who first come here and they see
their loved one on a bed, wondering whether or not that person will ever
walk again. And then, six months later, the body is returning and the
spirit is strong, the person is up and moving around -- the family and the
soldier is impressed by that care.
Americans must understand that the problems recently uncovered at
Walter Reed were not the problems of medical care. The quality of care at
this fantastic facility is great. And it needs to remain that way.
Independent analysis have given extremely high marks for the quality of
care here. In other words, this isn't my assessment, nor is it the
assessment of people I have talked to -- the families -- although that's
what they believe. It is also the assessment of a joint commission, which
accredits thousands of American hospitals. And this commission has given
Walter Reed the highest possible rating, a gold seal of approval.
Recently, the commission performed a surprise inspection -- they didn't
give a bunch of notice, they showed up and verified the high quality of
care here. I want to congratulate you for what you're doing. (Applause.)
The problems at Walter Reed were caused by bureaucratic and
administrative failures. The system failed you, and it failed our troops.
And we're going to fix it.
I met some of the soldiers who had been housed in Building 18. I was
disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong. It is not right to have
someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I
apologize for what they went through, and we're going to fix the problem.
And that's exactly what this government is going to do. We're not going
to be satisfied until everybody gets the kind of care that their folks and
families expect. And that's what I expect. And we've taken important steps
to achieve the objective.
First, Secretary Gates has insisted on accountability in the military
command. He made changes in leadership. He made tough decisions, because
he, like me, demands results. I welcome General Schoomaker. But I also
welcome General Tucker. Tucker is not a doc. As General Schoomaker informed
me, he is a bureaucracy buster. His job is to make sure that the
bureaucracy does not get in the way of making sure every soldier, Marine,
and their families get the best possible care. And I welcome you to the
command, and thank you.
Secretary Gates, as I said, has approved a non-medical deputy commander
-- that's Tucker. Building 18 has been closed. We're fixing that which
needs to be fixed, including, interestingly enough, putting a new roof on
it. The patients from Building 18 have been transferred into Abrams Hall,
and I'm pleased to report that living conditions there are of high quality.
We have formed three working groups to help address problems that may
exist and may arise. I want to share some of what the -- the strategy
behind the working groups is, and that is, first, Gates established --
Secretary Gates established an independent review group, and that was
primarily to examine the conditions at Walter Reed and Bethesda. The group
will recommend ways to ensure you have what you need to improve medical
care.
I heard one recommendation, in other words, one of the care providers
said, make sure we always have the best possible equipment, we want to be
on the leading edge of technology, not the trailing edge. I agree
completely. Those are the kinds of things that Secretary Gates's commission
is going to be looking into.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Nicholson is leading a task force of Cabinet
officers to identify potential gaps in the services our wounded troops
receive as they return from the battlefield. In other words, we want all
hands on deck here at the federal level to make sure that health care is as
good as it possibly can be. I'm not talking about the health care in the
operating room; I'm talking about the bureaucracies that may prevent good
health care from being delivered.
Finally, Bob Dole and Donna Shalala will chair a bipartisan
presidential commission on care for our wounded warriors. They will conduct
a comprehensive view of the entire system for providing physical and
emotional care to servicemen and women injured in this war. They will make
sure that that person gets high-quality care from the time they suffer
their wounds through their return to civilian life.
We want to make sure, for example, that any transfer from the Defense
Department to the Veterans Affairs Department is smooth, and that there's
not bureaucratic delay or obstacles in the way of making sure that we can
report to our fellow citizens that people are getting the best possible
health care.
I want to thank those who are working in these groups, and I'm looking
forward to getting their recommendations, because I want to make sure our
military families can be assured that their loved ones will get the very
best.
This military system of ours, when you really think about it, just
across the country, it's very complex and it's large. Yet there's nothing
complex about what we owe our troops; we owe them the best. That's what you
believe here at Walter Reed. I have seen the care and dedication that you
give on a daily basis. I just came from the therapy rooms, the physical
therapy and the vocational therapy rooms. I see people patiently working
with a wounded soldier on how to pick up cards and play cards with their
new prosthesis. It's just hours of help all because the people here
recognize each human being matters, each person counts, and each person has
endless possibilities, even though they may have received terrible wounds
on the battlefield.
None of the problems that we have uncovered can overshadow the great
work you do here. That's what you have to know. It's a special calling to
serve those who serve our country. It requires a unique person to come here
on a daily basis, and to heal the hurts of those who served our country.
And so our nation is grateful, and I'm proud to be your Commander-in-
Chief. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
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