Senators, Bush vow to overhaul care for vets
Senators pledged Tuesday March 6th to consider all options to fix a broken system of caring for wounded troops, while President Bush announced a new commission will look into the problem. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also raised questions about care at a Tampa Veterans hospital, where active-duty trauma patients are treated, during a Senate Armed Services Committee grilling of top defense officials about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa is one of four VA hospitals in the country that specialize in traumatic brain injury and handle veterans and active-duty military. Nelson said there have been delays in getting rehabilitation for troops with brain injuries, sometimes postponing care until the patient is moved from active duty to veteran status. "A soldier shouldn't be a Ping-Pong ball," Nelson said during the hearing. Nelson cited a report showing that at model hospitals the delay in starting rehabilitation was slightly more than two weeks, but for the VA it was six weeks. David S. Chu, undersecretary of defense, said there is an agreement between the VA and Department of Defense to treat each other's patients, so there should not have been long delays at the Tampa hospital. "I'll look into it," Chu said. "It should not have happened, bottom line."
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