Panel To Look Beyond Walter Reed Failures

The Bush administration must examine all military and veterans' hospitals to see where the system has failed, one of the leaders of the presidential commission to investigate the problems said Sunday.

Donna Shalala, health secretary under President Bill Clinton, said the commission will look at the system from the time "someone is hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan, all the way through, and to see not simply where the glitches are, but where the whole government has broken down."

President George W. Bush last week announced he had ordered a comprehensive review of conditions at military and veterans' hospitals, which have been overwhelmed by injured troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The review came in the wake of disclosures of poor outpatient health care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, one of the nation's premier facilities for wounded members of the military.

But, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said on Face The Nation the government needs to do more than just review the military healthcare system.

"What happens in Washington when there's a scandal is everybody appoints a commission," McCaskill said. "You know, a commission is just another way of delaying and contributing to the bureaucracy, and that's a huge part of the problem."

Shalala, now president of the University of Miami, said soldiers want the government to fix Walter Reed, not assign blame. "They don't have time to waste while we debate who's responsible here. They want that care now, and they want it to be of the highest quality."

Co-chairman Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator, said more money may not be the answer.

"We want to take a look and see where the problems are and see if it can be fixed. It may not need more money," he said. "It just may need clarification or somehow better coordination between the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

McCaskill said at least one more military leader should be removed from his position because of the problems at Walter Reed.

"General Kylie needs to be removed from his duties as surgeon general of the Army, because it's that culture of command," she told Bob Schieffer. "I documented in the Armed Services hearing this week, he knew of these problems. He's known of them for several years, and he was in the position to do something about it, and he needs to change – he needs to go. We need a new commander over the medical command of the U.S. Army, and a new culture of command."

Shalala and Dole spoke on "Late Edition" on CNN.