http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101470.html
Pentagon Investigates Conditions at Armed Forces Retirement Home
By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 4:14 PM
The Pentagon began investigating conditions for veterans at the Armed Forces Retirement Home today after the General Accounting Office reported allegations of serious health care problems at the facility in Northwest Washington.
A four-person team visited the home today to view conditions and to speak to officials and residents at the historic facility, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The team was appointed by the Department of Defense on Tuesday in response to a letter sent the previous day to Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates by David M. Walker, the comptroller general for the General Accounting Office.
The letter reported that the GAO had heard allegations from medical personnel who treat residents at the facility, including a rising number of resident deaths, resident rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces, and veterans suffering from bed sores and, in one case, maggots in a wound.
Senators Carl Levin, (D-Mich.) and John McCain, (R-Ariz.) sent a joint letter to Gates Tuesday saying they were "dismayed" by the GAO letter and calling on the Department of Defense "to immediately undertake an independent investigation of the quality of health care and other services provided by the Armed Forces Retirement Home."
Pentagon Investigates Conditions at Armed Forces Retirement Home
By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 4:14 PM
The Pentagon began investigating conditions for veterans at the Armed Forces Retirement Home today after the General Accounting Office reported allegations of serious health care problems at the facility in Northwest Washington.
A four-person team visited the home today to view conditions and to speak to officials and residents at the historic facility, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The team was appointed by the Department of Defense on Tuesday in response to a letter sent the previous day to Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates by David M. Walker, the comptroller general for the General Accounting Office.
The letter reported that the GAO had heard allegations from medical personnel who treat residents at the facility, including a rising number of resident deaths, resident rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces, and veterans suffering from bed sores and, in one case, maggots in a wound.
Senators Carl Levin, (D-Mich.) and John McCain, (R-Ariz.) sent a joint letter to Gates Tuesday saying they were "dismayed" by the GAO letter and calling on the Department of Defense "to immediately undertake an independent investigation of the quality of health care and other services provided by the Armed Forces Retirement Home."
