Local lawmakers seek to improve medical care at Fort Lewis hospital

WASHINGTON — If you were on the morning United Airlines flight from Seattle to D.C. on March 12, you may have recognized two men standing in the aisle, heads together, speaking in animated voices.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, and Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, were planning to help Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis fix some of the problems faced by returning soldiers injured in the war in Iraq.

Dicks, Reichert and Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, had visited the hospital two days earlier, after reports in The Seattle Times and elsewhere about soldiers' frustrations over their care.

On Wednesday, the congressmen sent a formal letter to the acting secretary of the Army outlining the concerns they heard at Madigan, including retribution against soldiers who protested poor treatment. The letter was co-signed by Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats.

The Army already had announced several changes at Madigan after the congressmen's visit. Those included making medical records available to soldiers, revamping the barracks' cleaning schedules and designating an independent health-care adviser to help soldiers navigate the military's medical maze.

Officials from the Fort Lewis Inspector General's Office and the National Guard Inspector General's headquarters in Washington also pledged to investigate complaints by injured Guardsmen and reservists at the base south of Tacoma.

Dicks and Reichert said they are pleased Madigan officials responded so quickly.

The letter sent Wednesday outlined a long list of complaints they heard from soldiers recovering at Fort Lewis.

"Necessary medical procedures and treatments are denied by Army officials," the letter said. Soldiers and their families also told the congressmen that the Army does an inadequate job diagnosing and treating mental-health problems.

"Unanimously, soldiers we heard from believe there is an active effort by Army officials to push disabled service members toward disability and health-care benefits provided by the Veterans Administration and away from the Department of Defense system," the letter added.

At that Saturday meeting at Fort Lewis, Dicks and Reichert had agreed to meet with a half-dozen troops and their spouses to discuss hurdles they face in receiving medical care, physical therapy and disability payments.

Instead, about 30 showed up.

"They unloaded," Dicks said. The soldiers detailed a lack of medical personnel, a hodgepodge of differing instructions to get care, dirty facilities and reams of red tape.

"They deserve more respect in their treatment," Reichert said.

He and Dicks took all their names and said they would coordinate with officials at Fort Lewis to see that their complaints didn't drop through the cracks.

Both men talked with Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik and Madigan's Brig. Gen. Sheila Baxter before leaving the Army hospital. Smith did not attend the meeting with the soldiers and their spouses.

"I told him to move fast because he had a powder keg that was going to explode," Reichert said.

Dicks urged Dubik to meet with the same soldiers he and Reichert spoke with. "To his credit, Dubik did," Dicks said.

Dubik and Baxter met with soldiers the same day Reichert and Dicks were flying back to D.C.

The Army launched inspections of 11 military hospitals, including Madigan, after Washington Post reports of shoddy care and bureaucratic obstacles faced by outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where the most grievously wounded soldiers are treated.

The revelations led to the dismissal of the secretary of the Army and the commanding officer at Walter Reed. In addition, the Army's surgeon general resigned.

Army officials on Thursday wrapped up their review of Madigan but would not discuss their findings.

At a House Army Caucus breakfast meeting Thursday with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Dicks urged the Army to move as fast as Madigan has to fix the problems in military's health-care system.

Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.