I’m writing to correct Jeff E. Jared’s comment in the Sept. 30 issue, “Veterans healthcare is poor; remember Walter Reed Hospital?”

First, Walter Reed is not part of the Veterans Administration. It is the premier hospital in the Army Medical Corps.

Second, the problems stated and, I hope corrected, had nothing to do with the quality of Army medical care at Walter Reed. They concerned conditions for outpatients being treated at Walter Reed. Think about it. A system that can get a soldier with a severe head wound off a battlefield in Iraq, treat him, and get him into outpatient status within a few days has a lot going for it.

The combination of very high quality of military and VA medical care means that thousands of servicemen and women survive injuries that would have meant certain death only a couple decades ago.

Bob Thompson, Kirkland