WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- The Army's medical leadership continues to be roiled by the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The Surgeon General and Medical Command Chief of the U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley has been forced to resign his position, the third top official to be forced out since the outpatient care scandal broke.
Kiley temporarily replaced the commander of Walter Reed hospital, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, when he was fired two weeks ago. Kiley had commanded Walter Reed prior to becoming surgeon general in 2004. Army Secretary Francis Harvey was forced to resign March 2.
The Washington Post revealed in February that outpatient rooms for wounded soldiers in an old former hotel across a busy street from the hospital were infested with mice, roaches and mold and many were in a general state of disrepair.
Kiley downplayed the situation to reporters at a press conference after the story broke.
He said the problems "weren't serious and there weren't a lot of them."
Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, current Deputy Surgeon General, immediately assumed Kiley's duties in the interim. Acting Army Secretary Peter Geren has convened an advisory board to recommend a slate of candidates to replace Kiley, a position that must be nominated by the president and then approved by the Senate.
"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said March 11, according to an Army press release, which said he resigned.
Geren said the process to find a new surgeon general would be swift.
"We must move quickly to fill this position - this leader will have a key role in moving the way forward in meeting the needs of our wounded warriors," Geren said March 12, according to the press release.
More than 24,000 U.S. servicemembers have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, roughly half of them serious enough to warrant removal from the battlefield, according to Pentagon statistics.
