<b>Hospital controversy</b>: US Army Secy resigns

US Army Secretary Francis J Harvey has stepped down following revelations of sub-standard conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Center while President Bush ordered a comprehensive review of the conditions at the military hospitals in the country.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced Harvey's resignation yesterday but unnamed administration officials were quoted as saying that he was shown the door.

The Army Secretary's resignation comes only two days after he fired Major General George Weightman who was in charge of the Walter Reed Medical Center following media reports of inadequate treatment given to returning soldiers from Iraq.

According to versions doing the rounds, Gates was not happy about Harvey's choice of replacement at Walter Reed - Lt Gen Kevin Keley - whose role in the controversy had not been clearly addressed.

"I am concerned that some do not properly understand the need to communicate to the wounded and their families that we have no higher priority than their care, and that addressing their concerns about the quality of their outpatient experience is critically important," Gates told reporters at a press meeting in which he took no questions.

Expressing concern about the controversy, President Bush announced the appointment of a bipartisan Presidential Commission to take a comprehensive look at the conditions in America's military and veteran hospitals.

"I'm announcing that my Administration is creating a bipartisan Presidential Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the care America is providing our wounded servicemen and women," Bush said in his weekly radio address of Saturday. (PTI)