WASHINGTON — The former head of O'ahu's Tripler Army Medical Center has been named the interim surgeon general for the Army.

Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock replaces Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, who stepped down after weeks of intense public criticism over poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, defense officials said yesterday.

Pollock, who ran Tripler from 2004 to 2006, will serve until an advisory board recommends a new surgeon general. Pollock previously was Kiley's deputy, a job she got after leaving Tripler in mid-2006.

Though there had been repeated calls for Kiley to resign as the Army's top doctor during hearings on Capitol Hill, he refused to step aside even as he was grilled about horrid living conditions and a tangled bureaucracy at the Army's flagship hospital. Kiley at first played down reports of problems at Walter Reed but later was far more contrite.

Pollock, in an e-mail sent to colleagues and staff in the Army Medical Command on Friday, had also sought to minimize reports about conditions at Walter Reed and attacked the media's handling of the issue.

"I know everyone is extremely pained and angry about the media assaults on Walter Reed and our senior leaders," Pollock wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Washington Post. She added that she "articulated our displeasure at the misinformation about the quality of care" to a Washington Post reporter after a congressional hearing last week but also acknowledged that she believed the stories could create momentum for changes that would better serve the Army.

She also wrote: "I know that your families and loved ones are affected by this event as well — please reassure them that the media makes money on negative stories not by articulating the positive in life — though that is something I will never understand."

Cynthia Vaughan, a spokeswoman for Pollock, said yesterday that the message, which also included words of encouragement for the Army medical community, was "intended to lift the spirits and reinforce confidence in her colleagues and her staff."

BABY IZZY CASE

Pollock commanded Tripler at the time it was hit with one of the most high-profile medical malpractice cases in its history. A newborn, Izzy Peterson, mistakenly was given carbon dioxide instead of oxygen for roughly 40 minutes after his birth, resulting in severe brain damage.

The Peterson family sued the federal government and last year was awarded $16.5 million, believed to be a record judgment involving a Tripler case and the highest in a personal injury case in Hawai'i involving a single person.

The Baby Izzy case and others prompted The Advertiser to publish a three-part series on Tripler in 2006. The series disclosed that the federal government has spent tens of millions of dollars over the past two decades to resolve about 170 cases in which patients or their families accused Tripler of shoddy care.

It also detailed how Tripler's non-active-duty patients filed more medical malpractice claims and received more paid administrative settlements than non-active-duty patients at all but one of the six other Army medical centers. Active-duty patients cannot file claims.

After the series ran, Pollock wrote a letter to the editor, thanking The Advertiser for doing the series. She said it provided a forum for expanding discussion on patient safety.

A certified registered nurse anesthetist who has 30 years of service in the Army, Pollock also has an MBA from Boston University and a master's degree in healthcare administration from Baylor University.

Kiley submitted his retirement request Sunday, according to an Army news release. Defense officials said Pete Geren, the acting secretary of the Army, had sought Kiley's removal in recent days. Geren has only been in his new role since last week, when he was tapped to replace then-Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who resigned his post as the scandal began to unfold.

The Army's inspector general reported yesterday that the service is lacking in critical staff and formalized training in caring for soldiers. The IG also found that the Army's system for determining disability benefits is overwhelmed by the number of wounded.

Senior Army officials, including Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody, have said the stories sparked an important dialogue about the state of Army medical care. He is leading efforts to find and fix problems at Army installations around the world, hoping to fix the problem of soldiers having to battle a medical bureaucracy after they return from fighting the nation's enemies.

UNDERSTATED PROBLEMS

The Army's initial playing down of reports of rodent infestation, mold and bureaucratic delays at Walter Reed angered senior officials at the Pentagon and drew concern from top administration officials — including President Bush. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was quick to seek accountability at the highest levels, forcing Harvey to resign just days after firing the commander of Walter Reed, Maj. Gen. George Weightman, two weeks ago.

Ongoing probes could lead to more firings, two defense officials said yesterday.

Kiley, who served as commander of Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, initially sought to deflect the reports after The Washington Post published a series of stories on the conditions faced by veterans receiving care there, saying the problems "weren't serious and there weren't a lot of them," and that they were not "emblematic of a process of Walter Reed that has abandoned soldiers and their families."

He later sought to soften his approach and told congressional panels that he wanted to stay on and lead the Army's medical community through systemic change but acknowledged that he was in a tenuous position. He was meeting with top Army officials inside the Pentagon as late as Friday to discuss ways to fix medical bureaucracy and identify shortcomings at facilities around the world.

'OFF TO RETIREMENT'

Kiley commented only briefly when reached via e-mail yesterday, saying he was "off to retirement" and "proud to have served this great nation." He said he might pursue a job in executive medicine.

"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said in a statement, adding that he wants the Army to focus forward. "We are an Army Medical Department at war, supporting an Army at war. It shouldn't be and it isn't about one doctor."

Members of Congress yesterday applauded Kiley's exit but said there is still much work to be done.

"The changes in leadership that have occurred since the situation at Walter Reed gained public attention are the first step," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "But this step alone will not fix the problems that our wounded and injured service members experience when they are in recovery. With the installation of new leaders, the real test will be making sure that the work fixing problems actually gets done."

Geren, the acting Army secretary, said the Army will move quickly to appoint a permanent surgeon general, citing the position's importance in implementing a new plan to address shortcomings in veterans' care.