Bush, Lawmakers Call for Hospital Probe

The Bush administration and U.S. congressional leaders have expressed outrage over problems reported at Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Veterans groups and lawmakers from both parties have sharply criticized the substandard housing available for outpatient care at the hospital and the bureaucracy that hinders patients seeking care. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said U.S. President George Bush is seeking an investigation in the reported problems, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Snow said Bush first learned of the troubling allegations regarding Walter Reed from the stories this weekend in The Washington Post. He is deeply concerned and wants any problems identified and fixed.

Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who visited the hospital Tuesday, said the hospital’s troubles were apparent.

It’s a failure… in the garrison leadership… that should have never happened, and we are quickly going to rectify that situation, he said.

Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the congresswoman has asked the House Armed Services Committee to investigate outpatient care at Walter Reed.