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BOB DOLE FOCUSED ON IMPROVING MEDICAL TREATMENT
FOR VETERANS -- "Everything is electronic at
the VA and the
DOD is trying to catch up. That'll make a big
difference."
Former Senator Bob Dole and Former
Secretary Donna Shalala
Story here...
http://www.fortwayne.com/
mld/journalgazette/17158299.htm
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Dole focused on improving medical treatment for
veterans
SAM HANANEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - After a bad fall two years ago, former Sen. Bob Dole
visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center up to three times a week for
treatment on his injured left arm and shoulder.
Now, the World War II veteran and former GOP Senate majority leader from
Kansas is helping lead the probe into allegations of shoddy conditions
for wounded troops at Walter Reed and other military and veterans'
hospitals around the country.
"We don't want to rush to judgment," Dole said in a wide-ranging
interview Monday.
"Everyone we've talked to is very complimentary about the care they
receive," Dole said. "It's not the doctors or the nurses or the people
on the wards. It's when they change from inpatient to outpatient and are
waiting for a doctor's appointment, waiting to go home, waiting to go to
the VA or back to their unit - this is where it's tangled up."
Dole, who turns 84 in July, brings a wealth of personal experience to
his new role as co-chairman of the Commission on Care for America's
Returning Wounded Warriors.
One of the nation's most prominent veterans, Dole endured a long and
painful recovery from wounds suffered in World War II that cost him the
full use of his right arm.
When he fell on his left arm last year, just a few weeks after getting a
hip replacement, Dole spent 41 days in the hospital.
"I still go to Walter Reed for outpatient treatment to see the doctor if
I have some problem," Dole said. "I was there for Christmas dinner and
Thanksgiving dinner, just to have dinner with the men and women who are
out there."
The commission has already held hearings to review conditions at
military and veterans' hospitals, which have been overwhelmed by injured
troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Panelists are looking at
ways to reduce paperwork and eliminate problems in the disability
ratings system.
Dole said one of the main problems is the inability of the Pentagon and
the Department of Veterans Affairs to share patient records
electronically.
"Everything is electronic at the VA and the DOD is trying to catch up,"
Dole said. "That'll make a big difference."
The commission is expected to issue a final report in late July.
Dole, meanwhile, shows few signs of slowing down. Since recovering from
his fall, he's going "full speed ahead" with work on the commission
report and continuing his work at the Washington law firm of Alston &
Bird. He still makes an occasional speech and says he's considering
another book project.
The former 1996 GOP presidential nominee is also watching the Republican
scramble for the White House as "a spectator."
"With a Kansan in the race, I'm sort of staying loose," Doe said,
referring to the bid of Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Brownback still
has chance if he does well in the Iowa caucuses, Dole said.
But if former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., jumps into the race, "that
will shake up the territory."
"He doesn't have any agenda and he was a good senator who I would put in
the moderate conservative range," Dole said.
Dole said one of the biggest differences between the 2008 race and the
1996 race is how early candidates are competing for attention and money.
"I don't known how the people are going to put up with it," Dole said.
"Most of the people haven't even tuned in yet."
He said he's stunned at how much candidates are raising and at
predictions that each major party's nominee could raise $500 million.
"The only one I'm going to work for is Elizabeth," Dole said of his
wife, the North Carolina Sen. who is running for re-election in 2008.
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Larry Scott --
