Pentagon Probes Army Retirement Home

(CBS/AP)  Responding to more allegations of poor health care for veterans, the Pentagon said Thursday it is investigating conditions at a historic retirement home in the capital.

The Defense Department sent a medical team on an inspection visit Wednesday after Defense Secretary Robert Gates received a letter from the Government Accountability Office reporting allegations of a rising death rate and rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest Washington.

"We are going to take every complaint and we are going to address it," said Maj. Stewart T. Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

There were also charges of patients with severe bed sores, including one with maggots, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

"This was a resident who was uncooperative in his care, which doesn't excuse what our staff did. We did find a maggot in the wound," said Timothy Cox, head of the home.

Cox also said he fired eight people after that case of neglect last August.

One of the most troubling allegations is that officials at the home have retaliated against residents who've questioned the quality of their care. However, Armed Forces Retirement Home officials said there's been no retaliation, and that they're proud of their care.

The GAO letter comes a month after revelations of poor living conditions and bureaucratic delays at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a scandal that has forced the resignations of three high-level Army officials.

That controversy also has prompted a review of the vast network of clinics and hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs — found in a separate probe this week to be beset by maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs and even a colony of bats.

The retirement home, formerly known as the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home, was opened in 1851 for wounded and disabled war veterans and is home to more than 1,000 retirees.

[vet999999]

The real tragedy is, that while our soldier are risking their necks, those that do not serve are completing their education, getting jobs and securing their fortunes (some more than others). When the troops return, there are no jobs for them as either the jobs have gone overseas or are being given to the H1B folks.
When I returned, 30+ years ago, I tried to buy a $1500 car but the bank told me "I was not responsible". We need to change the way we handle our veterans totally, not just addressing the medical issues. When the troops returned from WWII, society made sure there was a place for them.

[annd2302]

usmcvn

Just tell me. From where in the world did you uncover all that hate? You must have gone down many many unguided paths of evil. Bud, if you do not like where you live or where your life has taken you, you alone are the only one who can transform it.

The military of any and all sorts is the mainstay and backbone and earthly root for our existence, HOWEVER you just stop and ponder this, without a sorts of Military, we would not be having this whatever you call it. Someone somewhere had to stand up for your life.

Does your moniker imply you have had Marine experience, or just a want-a-be? Maybe,

usmcvn= From the DEUTSCH lineage
usmcvn= United States Marime Corp / Veteran
usmcvn= United States Marime Corp / Civilian

May I speculate? I will anyway. You were in the Marines. You quit because you did not understand what you were TOLD to do. TOLD TO DO is a Marine thing, remember? Oh well, to go on, you have a very nice young wife and 2 children and you, well lets just say you are not quite sure where you want to go with your life. I sincerely hope you find your way before to long, I don%u2019t know why, however in 10 years I can visualize you as a minister, nothing else to say, ZIG ZIGGLER, The Stick-Man Concept. Try and see what is beyond your limits.

[musty2u]

Just remember, whether it is Walter Reed or any other militry facility, when it is placed on the BRAC list it becomes illegal to fund any additional repairs to said facility. Many scapegoats can fall and it won't change a cotton pickin' thing. To rant about how or why something isn't done or wasn't done only shows one's ignorance of how the system works.

[sclaires]

I can remember hearing my father say that he would never be a patient in a VA hospital and he never was. After his retirement from the Army, he utilized the medical facility of the closest Army installation but that was for only a few years. Then my parents moved to where they were not close to a military facility so both of them went to civilian doctors. Their primary care doctor was a former Army doctor who, in the opinion of their children, was a poor excuse which means he acted the same way in private practice as he did in the Army. I am just thankful that there were other doctors who were better. I am also thankful that my father never had to go to a VA facility or even a military facility after his retirement. With what I know of these facilities now, I would not take even a sick snake to them and I am one who does not like snakes.

[david1737]

NYCKATE

Encourage Awareness on this. This needs to be fixed and then we need some meaningful accountability.

[nyckate]

david1737 - oh my goodness - you're right - and IAP was the ONLY private company to bid it - what do you know - their strong political/financial ties to the Bush White House won them the contract. IAP is also the contractor who won the deal to build our camps/bases in Iraq. Oh - and federal contracts from FEMA for Katrina also -- Man - are they reaping a fortune or what?

[nyckate]

Frankinaz - want to talk REAL waste?? How about the trillions dollars for Iraq -- hey - it might even be TWO TRILLION.

Sheesh -- aren't you even aware that the Bush crowd are desperately trying to get these illegal immigrants to join up the forces - cause Americans aren't.

[nyckate]

Oh Dear Lord -- what a horrible way our country treats our vets - and that's always - this is not a new problem - these problems just didn't appear overnight -- they may have worsened as funds have run so very short in VA with large number of Iraqi vets - injuries are running very very high -- but these is simply NO excuse for this. Not only can we do better we MUST do better.

The experts have it right - too few americans are aware of the sacrifices our military makes for us - and too few even think about Iraq or our soldiers there - that's a terrible condemnation of this country.

[bluestardad]

SUPPORT THE TROOPS! REPUBLICANS YOU SHOULD BE HUNG!

YOU HAVE SOLD OUR COUNTRY AND ITS BEST SOLDIERS DOWN THE RIVER BUT YOU TALK OF SUPPORTING THE TROOPS WHEN YOUR A S S IS IN THE FIRE AND YOUR TRATOROUS POLICIES ARE IN QUESTION.

YOU ARE TREASONOUS AND SHOULD BE HUNG!

[david1737]

Bush Admin. handed the job to IAP if you google it this is what you'll see:

IAP is owned by a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and it is led by former executives of Kellogg, Brown and Root, the subsidiary spun off by Texas-based Halliburton Inc., the oil services firm once run by Vice President *** Cheney.