WASHINGTON — Under fire for problems at its premier medical center, the Army intends to check on the quality of outpatient care for soldiers at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu and 10 other facilities nationwide, the Pentagon said yesterday.

The service is deploying a special team to examine care of wounded soldiers at installations that also include Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

The team visits are a response to media reports about dilapidated facilities and bureaucratic bungling in outpatient services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"The 11 Army installations were chosen primarily because of their population and their proximity to Army population centers," Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Cheryl Phillips said in a statement.

Findings from the team visits will be given to Army leaders within 30 days, Army chief of staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.

In a statement, Tripler said it "welcomes the visit" from what's called a "tiger team."

"My folks care for soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors, and we want to take care of them the best we can," said Maj. Gen. Carla Hawley-Bowland, Tripler's commander. "That is one reason we have town hall meetings and outreach to find out what the problems are early, so we can fix them right on the spot."

Tripler said it has 28 active-duty soldiers on "medical hold" status for maladies including injuries from war or training, and 50 soldiers on medical holdover status from the Reserve and National Guard.

Democratic Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawai'i said they're pleased the Army is moving to check on conditions at its medical centers.

Inouye said he has visited Tripler and believes it offers "superior care" and has generally received high marks in treating injured soldiers.

"I am certain Tripler officials will welcome the greater scrutiny ... and will do whatever is necessary to meet the high standards of care that our wounded soldiers deserve," he said.

Tripler said its approval rating for more than 20,000 customers last month — both patients and other people who interact with the hospital — was 97 percent, the highest for military facilities worldwide.

Akaka said it's time top military officials place greater emphasis on the care that service members and veterans receive.

"We need to ensure that the Defense Department and the Veterans Affairs Department are working together to ensure the best quality of care is afforded to these brave men and women and their families," he said.

SPECIAL COMMISSION

The teams of inspectors will include Army officers and civilian employees of the Army's medical command, Army officials said. They will also study medical administrative procedures.

Meanwhile, President Bush announced that a high-profile commission looking into soldier and veteran care will be headed by former senator and World War II veteran Robert Dole, a Republican, and former Health and Human Services secretary Donna Shalala, a Democrat who served under then-President Bill Clinton.

"We have an obligation — we have a moral obligation — to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who have served our country," Bush told a meeting of the American Legion in Washington. "They deserve it, and they're going to get it."

Inouye, who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II after losing his right arm in combat, said he's pleased that Dole was named co-chairman. Inouye and Dole, who was seriously injured himself in combat in the Italian Alps during World War II, recuperated in the same hospital in Battle Creek, Mich., after the war.

"He is personally aware of the needs of wounded soldiers," Inouye said. "He will be a strong voice in correcting the shortcomings that have been uncovered so far and any others that may later emerge."

Akaka said that as a wounded and disabled veteran, Dole "brings a special perspective to this special issue."

Fred Ballard, a VA spokesman in Hawai'i, said he doubts an inspection will be made of the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center on the grounds of Tripler.

"We don't have a hospital, so I can't imagine, personally, why they'd want to come out here and look at our operation. We're an outpatient clinic," Ballard said.

SCRUTINY BY CONGRESS

A $21.3 million outpatient center was opened in 2000, and is one of several facilities at the Matsunaga center. The time most veterans wait for an appointment is less than 30 days, Ballard said.

Congress is holding a series of hearings this week about conditions at Walter Reed, where patients told the Washington Post of outpatient housing infested with vermin and lengthy battles with an indifferent, sometimes hostile bureaucracy. Some lawmakers have expressed concerns that there could be similar problems elsewhere.

"I was greatly disturbed by the revelations ... of inattentive care and substandard living conditions," Inouye said. "This is unacceptable."

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said the conditions "should spark outrage in all Americans and a firm commitment to do something about it."

Bayh is a co-sponsor of legislation introduced by Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Claire McCaskill of Missouri that would streamline paperwork, boost the number of caseworkers handling patients, require more frequent inspections of facilities and provide psychological counseling to soldiers.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former Vietnam War prisoner of war, said the revelations about Walter Reed were "distressing to the nation."

"I am dismayed this ever occurred," he told Army officials. "It was a failure in the most basic tenets of command responsibility to take care of our troops."

The Army officials promised fast action.

"I stand before you accountable for what has occurred," Schoomaker told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.