The Army is placing medical officials in charge of substance abuse treatment for soldiers in the wake of a USA TODAY investigation that uncovered poor treatment and a spike in suicides among those suffering addiction.
Army Secretary John McHugh decided to shift oversight of the program back to the Army Medical Command to improve the counseling soldiers receive, an Army deputy assistant secretary, Anthony Stamilio, said in an interview. About 20,000 soldiers are screened each year for drug and alcohol abuse.
Problems began surfacing after the Army decided in 2010 to place the program under the Army's Installation Management Command, which operates garrisons and lacks medical expertise.
That move led to a sharp decline in the quality of care. Half of the Army's treatment clinics fell below professional standards, veteran personnel left en masse and clinics hired unqualified directors and counselors, according to senior Army clinical staff members and records obtained by USA TODAY.
Stamilio defended the program, saying that under Installation Command management the "program is running well," current counselors are fully credentialed, and rates of soldiers successfully completing treatment and staying sober are high.
[For more of this story, written by Gregg Zoroya, go to http://www.usatoday.com/story/...se-program/72244416/]
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