Army scales back medical units
As wars wind down, Army is shutting a number of specialized medical centers set up to treat severely wounded troops.
WASHINGTON — For the second time in two years, the Army is shutting down a number of the specialized medical units that were set up at military bases around the country to help care for severely wounded troops returning from battle.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have begun to wind down, the number of service members with complex physical, mental and emotional wounds and illnesses has dramatically declined, reducing the need for the specialized care.
Ten of the 25 warrior transition units will be closed by August 2016, but officials said the reorganization is being done in a way that will allow them to restart the care if needed.
Army Col. Chris Toner, who heads the Warrior Transition Command, said there are about 3,650 soldiers in the units now, and about 66,000 have gone through the treatment cen- ters since they were opened in 2007. At the peak, there were 45 WTUs, treating 12,500 soldiers at one time.
Toner said the Army was “very hesitant to take a big leap forward” and shut down more of the units. He said that maintaining 15 at major Army installations where there are large concentrations of soldiers would give the Army the ability to serve as many as 8,100 injured troops.
Plagued with a spotty history, the transition units began in the aftermath of the health care scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007, as the military grappled with the challenge of caring for an escalating number of seriously wounded troops coming home from the wars.
The units were designed to give soldiers comprehensive and coordinated medical and mental health care and provide counseling on legal, financial and other issues as they transition to civilian life or back to military duty.
Toner said 48 percent of the soldiers in the units are active duty troops and the rest are reserves. And, more than 1,700 of the approximately 3,650 soldiers are being treated for some type of post-traumatic stress or behavioral diagnosis. About 85 percent of those with stress or behavioral problems have deployed to a war zone at least once.
Closing the 10 units will affect about 800 soldiers and 300 employees, Toner said. Workers will be reassigned if possible to other jobs on the base or in the region, or could move to one of the remaining units.