European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday. Juris 23, 1986 the stalls and stripes pages Brooke medical Center under fire Dod wants to Cut Back outdated facility Dallas times Herald san Antonio Texas in 1977 when two Boeing 747 airliners collided on a runway in the Canary islands the survivors of the worst air disaster in his tory were airlifted to Brooke army med ical Center Tor bum treatment. In october i9s3, two survivors of the suicide bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut came to the bum Center at Brooke. They were followed a week later by eight army soldiers wounded in the invasion of Grenada. This Spring it was it Soldier injured in the disco bombing Iberlin. The Brooke army medical Center at fort Sam Houston and the army bum Center it houses have played a role Inone disaster after another in size and reputation Brooke is second Only to Walter Reed army medical Center in Washington. However in Antiqua Tion it is second to none. Recently Brooke look another in a series of blows. Or. William Mayer assistant Secretary of defense for health matters released a report that recommended against construction of a planned 450-bed full serv ice Hospital at Brooke. Instead he urged Brooke be reduced to a station Hospital of 150 bed. And in a potentially devastating recommendation Mayer said that the prestigious Burn Center and Brooke s Leach ing programs should be relocated to other military facilities. The decision which immediately aroused the ire of Texas congressmen who have been fighting on he Side of Brooke is expected to stand unless Over turned by Congress. As commander of Brooke and an alumni of its training centers with two specialities i m saddened that Brooke Milit be downgraded said Brig. Gen. Girard Seiner Iii. Seiner studied at Brooke and later served As its assistant chief  surgery. While noting his emotional attach ment to Brooke Seiner said of Mayer s plan i have been Given no Good reasons except to say there Are economic Analy ses that say it would be More Cost Benefi  As one of the army s eight regional medical centers Brooke with nearly 700beds, admits almost 20,000 patients a year from a four state area. In addition it records about i million outpatient vis its. Set on High ground on the Northeast Side of the City Brooke is a place where the wounded of two world wars Korea and Vietnam have come for cure an convalescence. This Spring Brooke celebrated the100th anniversary of the construction of the first Hospital building at the fort. The press release for the occasion perhaps reaching a bit for a famous name noted that Many of Teddy Roosevelt s rough riders were treated Here for injuries received in their pre invasion training for the Spanish american War. But As it begins its second Century Barney As it is known from its acro nym Banc. Is More vulnerable than venerable. Nest year the Center s main Hospital will be a half Century old and thus be come eligible for nomination As a National historic landmark. Beach Pavil Ion is even older having been erected in 1930 As a regimental Barracks. We came in and set up a temporary Hospital Here about 40 years ago. That what it was and that s still what it is said Ray Dery Brooke s Public affairs officer. And because of the piecemeal manner in which it evolved Brooke s various buildings Are widely dispersed around the perimeter of Macathur Field. The result is a great duplication of services at the two hospitals. However neither Hospital offers Complete services thus requiring extensive shuttling of patients within the Complex. E in year Brooke ambulances run up almost 150.000 Miles most of it on Post. Sections inside Beach inc former troops Barracks resemble an aging factory. The ceilings of the lower corridors Are heavy with electrical lines water pipes and various other conduits All of which should be concealed inside the Walls. The question is not whether Brooke is obsolete. That was obvious years ago. Perhaps even before 1976 when the Cen Ter nearly lost its medical accreditation because of deplorable conditions. Rather it s been a question of to builder not 10 build the dilemma has gone unresolved for almost 20 years see sawing Back and Forth Between studies and recommendations. Mayer s is Only the latest albeit the most threatening. It comes on the heels of a general accounting office report that also recommended against building the 450-bcd replacement Hospital. Foremost among Brooke s defenders has been congressman Henry b. Gonza Lez. The existing Hospital is an affront to patients an embarrassment to the army and a blight on the conscience of the people of this country who expect he department of defense to provide it soldiers with decent medical care the congressman said. In any event nothing is expected to change at the medical Center for at least five years. Until then the destination of the burned and wounded from wan and disasters around the world will continue to be Brooke Dery whose resume includes service in Vietnam for the . Government and in Manchester n.h., for publisher Wil Liam Loeb has seen enough not to panic. It s just another round in what will probably be Many More Between the department of defense and Congress he said. We have not been told to curtail our design plans for