Healthcare politics take center stage

Patrick Chorpenning, Director of the Arizona Department of Veterans services, resigned yesterday amidst criticism over health and safety conditions at veteran nursing homes in Phoenix. Violations included "patients left in soiled undergarments and covered in bodily fluids leaking from medical devices."

Chorpenning's resignation comes on the heels of national scrutiny of the conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. Rooms at the facility were found to contain mold, cockroaches, and mice, and there were complaints of poor patient care. One soldier described his experience:

Wearing a black eye patch, Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon described how he was struck in the head by a round from an AK-47 in November 2004 during a firefight near Ramadi, causing a traumatic brain injury and the loss of an eye.

Within a week of the injury, he was released to outpatient treatment, Sergeant Shannon recounted.

Despite being extremely disoriented, he said, he was given a map and told to find his own way to his new residence on the hospital’s sprawling grounds. He wandered into a building and received directions.

He then waited several weeks wondering whether anyone would contact him about additional treatment, eventually calling people himself until he reached his case worker.

The spotlight on poor treatment has been a source of embarrassment for the military recently. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker said he was “extraordinarily angry and embarrassed” by the condition of Walter Reed facilities. Army officials have have said that extensive repairs are are underway.

The unfavorable attention has come at a bad time for the Bush administration as it faces public criticism over its war policy and as the Senate moves forward with an Iraq War Bill which includes the establishment of a troop withdrawal date.