Overcrowding at Army Recovery Units Addressed

Army officials currently are enacting stricter screening procedures to address overcrowding at its 36 Warrior Transition Units and nine other community-based units that eventually could result in the closure or mergers of as many as 10 transitional units, the AP/Denver Post reports. In October 2007, the Army began admitting soldiers with less serious injuries into its Warrior Transition Units, in response to a report from earlier in the year that found poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The Warrior Transition Units serve Army active-duty and reserve soldiers and coordinate medical and mental health care, track recovery and provide broad legal, financial and family counseling.

Previously, soldiers with less serious injuries, such as a torn knee ligament, would receive care and then go on "light duty" -- such as answering phones -- while receiving physical therapy. The number of patients admitted to the centers rose from about 5,000 in June 2007 to 12,500 in June 2008, according to data and interviews provided to the Associated Press. Currently, as many as half of the patients in the centers do not have injuries serious enough for them to qualify for care in the centers, the AP/Post reports.

Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, director of the Army's warrior-care office, said only 12% of the soldiers in the units had battle injuries, while thousands had minor problems that did not require unit attention. According to Cheek, the overcrowding is a "self-inflicted wound." He said the Army now is narrowing treatment to those who have more serious or multiple injuries that require six months or more of coordinated support (Baldor, AP/Denver Post, 11/2).