Return to Article: Officials say outsourcing partly to blame for Walter Reed failures
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21731
"Veterans need to be treated at a military hospital." Well, that seems to be self evident to me, so I assume there's a story behind the question. Without knowing that story, I can only answer in general and state the obvious. Y'all out there, correct me if I'm wrong.
In brief, funds are allocated specifically for veterans. In governmental practice, if you don't use, you lose. Not using those funds and facilities leads the government to think there is no need and they would go away.
The benefit to soldiers is that these doctors, nurses, and other specialists see problems specific to veterans. While each case is individual, there are a lot of things that we suffer that are seen less in the general population. Even relatively common ailments as torn rotator cuffs, degenerate joint problems, and deafness are concentrated in veterans at earlier ages due to continued stress. That doesn't even mention the amputations, scar treatments, psychological disorders, etc. that are seen in such degrees only at our VA centers. And then there is exposure to everything from radiation to chemical agents that are seldom seen anywhere but here.
I may be mistaken but I do believe that if there is no VA support in a specific geographic area for a specific treatment or individual, like Tricare there is a mechanism to seek support. To my understanding, the greatest difficulty in absence of a VA or military facility lies in navigating and securing support within the Byzantine bureaucratic process that was originally designed to ensure efficiency and entitlement. This process is often dictated by congressional oversight and law. This is a problem for veterans, deployed Reserve and National Guard, and often those soldiers with exceptional family members who have special needs. Additionally, all this costs money which is often cut during drawdowns when it is needed most.
If your story involves that maze, all I can say is "Good luck!"
Tip off
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21725
Please everyone look at Col. Moore's comments. Col. Moore thinks that we should not blame the person in charge but rather the working stiff that was immediately responsible for the job. This is the military view and it is the source of problems throughout DoD and the services. The mangers are not managers!
The managers are leaders! They are just supposed to travel around motivating everyone to take the hill even if the hill does not need to be taken! It is time to get managers and the moves in eliminating the Generals in charge are steps in the right direction.
Too bad Gates isn't getting rid of Pace - not only is he discriminating in the labor force but he is in charge of losing the war in Iraq, as is the Army General in Iraq. Maybe Gates will instill management into the managers if he gets rid of enough of them. But that assumes they will get the message - which is a long stretch.
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21711
Does anyone know why, as a general practice, veterans need to be treated at a military hospital? Why not give them the option of going to a hospital of their choosing?
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21705
To the person who said Ronald Reagan pushed to eliminate "useless" government jobs and reduce the size of government.
And your point is?
If Reagan hadn't opened the flood gates, no one would have lost a job to outsourcing. All those GS-1 to GS-3 janitors that Reagan got rid of were productive taxpayers with a pension and health care; afterwards they had nothing. And it didn't stop there -- if Reagan hadn't planted the idea, all the GS-5s through 13s that have been outsourced since the 1980s would still be feds. And if you really believe that outsourcing makes the government smaller, then you haven't been paying attention to the number of contractors that work there now.
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21669
Ronald Reagan pushed to eliminate "useless" government jobs, as in stop doing the work of little value or that the government should not be involved in. Reduce the overall size of government was a Reagan thing.
Clinton/Gore pushed outsourcing: Reducing the number of government workers, but increasing what the government did by adding a larger number of contractors than the number of government workers removed. They increased the size of government while claiming to reduce/reinvent it. Actual outsourcing was mostly a Clinton/Gore thing.
Bush continued the trend by assuming that contracting out makes things run more efficiently like a business.
But the contractors are out for themselves and their company profit more than anything else.
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21660
This is for "Charlie" and everyone who agrees with him - Al Gore did not invent outsourcing. That honor goes to Ronald Reagan. And if you don't believe me, ask anyone who got caught up in one of the early efforts of the 80s; or the WEP; or the GPO; or how they didn't get any raise the one year; or any of a number of other things that politicians (and their constituents) now take for granted.
Ronald Reagan was not the federal employee's friend.
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21652
Folks, you need to look at the start of outsourcing and you will find it was none other than Al Gore who wanted to "re-invent government". His idea and planning worked itself into OMB and A-76. Bush pushed what Al Gore and OMB started which created your outsourcing. As far as Walter Reed, Congress should never have allowed any medical facility to be entered into the BRAC system when a war is on. This facility was going to hell long before either of the two officers fired ever came there. Read the Executive Intelligence Digests which tell about this facility. The roof and room conditions didn't happen overnight. Their reporting system is a nightmare; read the articles about it. Those officers who were fired didn't allow the outsourcing without being told to do it and when to do it. This is a game of misblame and even a congresswoman on CNN implied that some of the problems at WRMEDCEN were as a result of laws passed by the Congress.
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21645
I've read all the comments and have followed the articles in the Washington Post. One thing no-one has mentioned is this: There any plans to renovate the building and facilities in the budgets prior to the BRAC (and after)? If so how far up did they go before they were cut. If they were not included in the budget. who is (or should have been) responsible for identifying the need? Please don't say the general in charge of the hospital, because he is not the one. It's more like some person in engineering or housing that should have done something. Did they? If it went from the Army to DOD and they cut it, then why? Maybe it even when to Congress and they would not fund it because of the BRAC status.
Isn't it funny how Congress is suddenly interested in the hospital when it is politically correct to be interested, but not when it was announced the hospital would be closing and we had a war going on. Where were they then? Accountability starts from the bottom and goes on to Congress in this mess. They can't stand on the side line and say everyone else is at fault. They need to look in the mirror too!
As a former acquisition official, I argued for years that outsourcing does not save money and in fact causes more in the long run and erodes our military and civilian workforce. If Congress is paying attention maybe now they will stop the outsourcing and base realignments.
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21586
Bad government, tremendous waste and no accountability lead to this problem which would remain untouched had not the media exposed it. This is just the tip of the iceberg. People suffer while Congressional representatives are self-absorbed with lining their pockets.
Injured soldiers, injured federal workers, the disabled and the elderly are at the bottom of the list of Congressional priorities. Our elected officials allow the Veterans Administration, the Labor Department and Social Security and other agencies to victimize the people who can't defend themselves. This will be swept under the rug soon enough.
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21585
Why has no one hit the one of the real causes of the problem: Bush's war? This war has taken funds from the maintenance of the infrastructure since its beginning. Each year there has been a CW (Cost of War) cut back from every activities budget, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Believe me I know this for fact as I was responsible for digging for the money until I had to leave my job because of BRAC. Our people are being hurt and maimed because of a personnel war and now the monies to help them have also been taken away. Outsourcing also has a great deal to do with the lack of funds, as there never has been a contract that has saved us any money. Do not believe it may be one of these investigative reporters could do some unbiased research, for a change .
I am sure the DHS will check me out now for not paying lip service.
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21575
It seems that there is an across-the-board lack of leadership quality in the commanding ranks of the Army today. My dad told me a story once about the time he spent in an Army boot camp during WWII. His platoon was being taught to dig ditches. It was hot and humid, but they noticed that across the way, another platoon, also digging ditches, were being screamed at to dig faster and deeper. My dad asked his sergeant why the poor guys across the way were being given such a hard time. The sergeant replied that they were training to become officers and the Army wanted to make darn sure that when they gave an order, they understood the full ramification of their actions.
Shame on the Army for losing that greatness.
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21574
Wait a second: what do you mean that A-76 is incredibly expensive, misguided and strips agencies of critical funds? Whoa! Who would have thunk it?
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21569
Let's put the blame where it really belongs: on each and every member of Congress who has received letters or e-mails of complaint about WRAMC and have not done anything about it. There are also the MOC and their families who have been there and done nothing.
That is where the real blame lies.
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21568
Pavlov's dog, it isn't us! It didn't take long for DoD to start squirming out from under this one. So now, it is outsourcing is it? That may indeed be part of the problem at Walter Reed but just ask any Vet about the VA and the stories will be as bad if not worse. Like many others, I learned not to bother about the VA a long time ago.
It would be easy to point a finger at all the tarnished brass at DoD (such horrible creatures) but the real issue is the low value the government places on paying it's obligations and keeping the promises it makes to the average solider and citizen. Finally, the true problem is the people we keep electing. All those politicians with their soft white hands and toothy smiles promising us the moon and delivering the same old partisan power grabs.
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21567
This problem didn't occur overnight. The Army has never made its people a priority. Anyone who has ever had the chance to compare Army facilities or hospitals knows that this situation (while more extreme than most) is not surprising. This type of situation won't be cured by A-76 reform; it requires a shift in Army culture.
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21565
Other readers have made some great points. Two deserving most emphasis are definitely:
1. What was the administration thinking by flooding a BRAC facility like Walter Reed with so many wounded? Obviously, when Walter Reed was marked for death, it became a low priority for upgrades and maintenance.
2. How many cases of outsourcing abuse do we need to see before the lesson sinks in? Critical missions are being seriously compromised. When you find yourself in an A-76 hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. The entire outsourcing strategy must be reassessed, before America becomes completely ineffective as a world power.
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21559
Funny, the administration and congress blame and fire the guy who was there less than six months, blame the contractor who just got there, but don't turn inward to discover that BRAC and outsourcing is destroying the civilian workforce. Any federal employee with worth is being driven out by this ridiculous behavior and interference from Congress, who can't even pass a damn budget.
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21557
Unbelievable! The very people who caused the conditions at Walter Reed are now trying to blame the contractor - who did not take over any work until February 4, 2007 and worse, are trying to blame a process that - if they had not overtly acted to delay it - would have allowed that contractor to get in as planned and help fix conditions much, much sooner. Only in America and only in the United States Congress could anything like this be done with such surprised indignation. Veterans need to read the supporting article links to get the names of the culprits. It's pretty clear that their interests were focused on other than the veterans.
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21555
This is going to be interesting. It's interesting that when the bids were received from both the civilian government employees and the private contractor (IAP led by Mr. Neffger, a former Kellogg, Brown and Root/Halliburton COO) that when IAP lost the first bid IAP was allowed to protest and overturn the bid but when the government civilians lost the second bid they weren't allowed to protest. It's going to be interesting to hear Mr. Neffger's testimony and whether IAP met their contract requirements. If IAP was not required to meet contract requirements, this may allow a legal suit by the former government employee competitors. It's interesting that we keep hearing Halliburton and how they have skimmed and stolen as in Iraq and Katrina.
It's also going to be interesting to hear explanations from Colonel Daryl Spenser as to his actions or lack of once he received the letter of warning. It's going to just as interesting to hear from MEDCOM as to their action or lack of. Interesting but what you want to bet that we'll hear this same story again before long.
Why? Three things. Money, continued placement of non qualified personnel and lack of severe penalties.
First: Money. Lack of due to administration priorities. It's hard to believe but when the dust clears you will find most top officials knew and didn't do anything about the conditions because they wanted the money to go elsewhere. I work at a VA and we hear it all the time. We see less money every year and more work and requirements.
Second: Unqualified personnel. Placement of ol' girl/ol' boy is still alive and well. Part of this involves political appointees. Want to see this change? Install private personnel hiring where the federal agencies only involved action concerning hiring would be to notify a private hiring agency that a position was needed. Any other contact should meet with severe penalty.
Third is severe penalties. This is what everyone is now talking about but doing nothing. Increase penalties. Remove pensions for these criminals and remove the cushy institutions, send them to real prisons. Yes, I said criminals because they stole something from these veterans. They stole what they had been promised and they stole their pride.
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21553
"Several lawmakers questioned whether it had been a mistake to outsource base operations support through a competition conducted under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 rules. The Walter Reed competition began in January 2000 and went through numerous protests and appeals. The contractor selected to perform the work, Cape Canaveral, Fla.-based IAP Worldwide Services, finally took over operations on Feb. 4 of this year"
If the facility was contracted out and there were significant protests - everyone involved would know the specific nature of the facilities and the problems that existed! In preparation for the contracting out, the military managers would have been made aware of everything involved with the transfer to the contractor and the contract would have had to address the specific problems involved. Get a copy of the A-76 contract and see what conditions it addresses in the transfer. If the bad conditions are not stated with the contractor given authority to correct them - then you know the military management was lax at best! The generals should be kicked out of the military and not just fired from the Walter Reed jobs. For the press to say they were fired is meaningless.
Generally, the military will simply move them to another position and say they were fired. However, they remain in the military and continue to build retirement and can still influence decisions. They should be kicked out of the service after being reduced in grade and having their pensions reduced accordingly. I have seen no press coverage that indicates these guys have suffered any penalty for their bad management.
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21552
I am part of a team that has worked with the NIH, across from the Bethesda Navy Hospital, to establish a workable maintenance program that is improving the equipment condition with reduced numbers after an A-76. There is an article written in the Uptime Magazine, January addition on Best Precision Maintenance Program. This program has established Conditioned Based Maintenance, using Reliability Centered Maintenance Principles to reverse the equipment condition. The original program was strictly a reactive maintenance program that fixes equipment only when it breaks
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21550
How can the Army blame outsourcing and BRAC for the horrible conditions at Walter Reed? Those conditions didn't just happen - they predate both the contracted services as well as BRAC. Come on Army, man up and accept responsibility for not doing what needed to be done to maintain a proper facility to care for our wounded soldiers.
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21548
Will wonders never cease? Someone finally had the guts and internal plumbing to come right out in public and say that outsourcing just might, might mind you, not have been a good idea after all! I wonder how many members of congress will do their best to state the they never liked the idea. Not to mention the administration that has been pushing outsource, outsource, outsource, from its beginning? In all my time working for the government, I have never seen, or heard of, even one time where outsourcing did not cost more in the long run (in one way or another)!
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21547
The Acting Secretary of the Army does not know how the decision is made to engage the A-76 process? Woe is us.
Maybe he should become familiar with the President's Management Agenda, OMB's resultant numerical privatization quotas and the immense pressure put on the Department of Defense and, in turn on the Department of the Army, to review jobs for outsourcing.
Maybe he should also ask to be briefed on the history of this process, and specifically how it pertains to Walter Reed, by Mr. Alan D. King, Deputy Garrison Commander of the Department of the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center, who unsuccessfully protested, on behalf of the Federal employees, the decision to outsource (see GAO B-295529.6). Or better yet, by Mr. William Armbruster, his very own Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privatization and Partnerships, who so highly praised the significant savings of the outsourcing?
The Army saved at the expense of quality of support, General Weightman inherited the mess, and now conveniently is thrown to the wolves.
Secretary Harvey's departure on the other hand may be a blessing in disguise. Let us hope that he takes with him the ill-advised micro-managing of every single hiring action in the Department of the Army and the Lean Six Sigma theories that were going to make us more efficient and streamlined. Many of us would rather stick to staffing organizations to the required levels without unnecessary delay of high-level approval processes, and treating folks with dignity and respect by providing them the level of service and support they so rightfully deserve after making the highest sacrifices for our Nation.
It is high time the Department of the Army received a true leader, one who commits to serving soldiers and cares to deliver!
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21546
Outsourcing is not the cause of this. Management has full responsibility for monitoring the performance of outsourced personnel just as they would have had to do for direct reports. This was dereliction of duty and both leaders should be disciplined for what they ignored and failed to correct.
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21544
I am a wounded vet from Vietnam. The red tape hasn't changed in forty years. It took me thirty years to get a piece of boot out of my ankle that was causing pain. And thirty years ago when they cut me from 20% to 10% they said I had a case, I just would have to fight the system to get it back. They tie you up enough with red tape you just want to crawl in a hole and call it quits. All V.A. hospitals look good if you walk in the front door. Try going in the back door, millions are spent at the entrance, exit at your own risk. Looks good must be good, but red tape is blood red. Ours. We, the vets.
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21542
How long will it take the citizens of the United States, to realize, you don't get something for nothing? Government doesn't come free to anyone and it costs our hard-earned money, paid out in taxes, to protect our freedoms. It's not free, we have to pay for it or suffer the shameful mounting issues like: Katrina, Iraq, veteran's health care and other mounting issues surfacing everyday.
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