European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 05, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page the stars and stripes thursday december 5, 1985 military Medicine on the facilities try to catch up with 1980s by Judy Sarasohn medical writer talking through inc dilapidated army Hospital showing off gutted rooms under  and worrying about keeping inc dirt out of the rest of the patient areas. R col Doyle Driver pointed but the Blue netting Hal was Hung to prevent people from falling from the open staircase. You come in and look at this place and say. Acc am i going to get out 1 " said Driver Deputy Hospital com Mander for clinical services at had Cannstatt Germany military medical officials throughout Europe sigh sympathetically when the bad Canns Lall Hospital parts of which Date Back 100 years is mentioned. It is the most extreme example of the conditions in Europe in which Milu Arv doctors and nurses arc expected to provide Quality health care and in which scr inc members and their families Are treated most of inc hospitals Are in military buildings dating Back to world War ii. Other hospitals and clinics Are in buildings never designed to be medical facilities the Navy Hospital at Naples Italy. Is in a building initially designed As a hotel the air Force Hospital Al Hill Nikon All Greece originally was a Barracks. The older hospitals Are cramped or. Maj Dave Dooley. Chief of internal Medicine has to leave his office Al the army Hospital at Augsburg Germany while a woman patient undresses for an exam bad Cannstatt staff member Monitor a patient blood pressure m the Hospital s my Nuu and Ihen again when she dresses. The exam table behind a partition shares his office. Many doctors Don l have partitions. People line the hallways of the air Force Hospital at Kai Lakin Heath. , because there s not Nouis space Lor waiting rooms. ",v\.c Don he pc waiting rooms pc have waiting Halls said or. Col Robert t. Jones Hospital com Mander. The Lack of space the poor design and the age of Many of these buildings make it hard to work efficiently keep patients comfortable protect patients privacy ensure clean conditions and build patients Confidence the i they Are being treated in a first class facility. Some of the hospitals nonetheless have been accredited by the joint commission on accreditation of hospitals although deficiency Are Mill noted seeking Acrea Lalion from the commission a private Ofuani i lion thai sets operating standards for hospitals is nil we re getting the fines group of Mung do lors thai we Ever had entering in the military service. Inc problem is no matter How Good the people there arc limitations placed on them just by the physical Plant said or. William Mayer assistant Secretary of defense for health affairs. The facilities went decades without funding for sub Stantial repairs and improvements officials said partly because of arguments that american forces would not remain in i Uroic for Long and Ihnn the changeling of military resources into Vietnam. And there is the Strong feeling among Many doctors that another reason is thai hospitals in  Don t have congressional representatives fighting for construction funds for their districts. Who s the senator for Germany said c of Robert Hutchc or. Deputy director of medical plans and re sources for the air Lorce surgeon general when  construction funds from con Gress have not been available military communities commands and India duals have pitched in to repair their medical facilities. Army communities for exam ple arc spending More than s4h million to keep their hospitals and clinics in operating condition until they can be replaced. The Shuburg a. Germany dental staff painted the clinic Interior. In the la i several years. Congress ind the Penta gon have begun to spend millions of dollars to up Grade medical facilities in i in or the funding has not been great enough to build All the  officials want. But the i Flim of Money has been encouraging. One would have to say Hal Cong Ess has been very generous in fixing up the places a i Uroic to s i a otherwise would not be  said  Ien Quinn Ceker. Inc army surgeon general. Mayer defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and at least one concessional committee have endorsed