For Immediate Release

March 20, 2007

FUNDS FOR MADIGAN IMPROVEMENTS
INCLUDED IN IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL BILL

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Tuesday that Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma will receive a share of a $30 million funding boost that was added to a supplemental appropriations bill to improve outpatient care and processing of wounded soldiers transitioning to disability status.

            The congressman, who serves as the vice-chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said he urged colleagues to approve the overall increase as an amendment to the Iraq supplemental funding bill following a visit he and two other Washington congressmen made to Madigan earlier this month.  On March 10, Reps. Dicks, Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) met with Madigan Commander Brig. Gen. Sheila R. Baxter and I-Corps & Fort Lewis Commanding General James M. Dubik at the facility to discuss the recent problems experienced by returning Iraq war soldiers at the Army’s Walter Reed hospital and other medical facilities.  In addition to surveying Madigan hospital and other related buildings at the base, the congressmen met privately with a group of soldiers currently receiving care for service-connected wounds and injuries.

            Following those meetings, Dicks conferred with Lt. Gen. Dubik and Gen. Baxter about improvements that are now being implemented at Madigan, and then returned to Washington to assure that Madigan would be included in a defense-wide effort to improve military medical treatment.

            “While the problems at Madigan may not be as serious as those confronted at Walter Reed, we nevertheless found that too many soldiers –particularly in the so-called ‘medical hold’ category -- were waiting too long for proper care or for evaluation of their cases pending possible transfer to the VA medical system,” Rep. Dicks said.   He said he and Reps. Smith and Reichert noted a high turnover rate for physicians as well as a shortage of caseworkers at Madigan.

            During the Appropriations Committee consideration of the Iraq Supplemental funding bill on Mar. 15th, Rep. Dicks received the panel’s assurance that Madigan would be included among the facilities aided by the funding boost.

            The committee adopted language, which is expected to be approved by the entire House this week, outlining the problem and the plans for the additional $30 million to be spent in the current fiscal year  [the following language is excerpted from the Appropriations Committee report on the Iraq Supplemental funding bill]:

“Medical System Administration Improvements

Recent reports indicate that the Department of Defense’s system for managing wounded outpatient and medical-hold soldiers, as well as the processes for evaluating soldiers’ eligibility for disability benefits have been severely strained, causing soldiers’ needs to go unmet. In particular, the thousands of soldiers wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have overwhelmed the system, leading to failure to complete disability reviews in a timely manner. In many cases the lack of management, shortages in caseworkers and specialists to help identify depression and post traumatic stress disorder, inadequate medical hold facilities and even wheelchair access all have created additional obstacles for soldiers to overcome as they convalesce.

Therefore, within the funds provided for the Defense Health Program, the Committee directs that $30,000,000 be used for strengthening the recruitment and formalized training for administrative and casework personnel, and for enhancing the programs in which they participate. The Committee further directs that these funds be allocated directly to military medical centers with significant medical-hold populations and large backlogs of patients who have yet to be evaluated for disability benefits.”

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