Dept. of No One Could Have Predicted…
Posted on | March 10, 2007
So after the Army concluded that outsourcing facilities upkeep at Walter Reed would not be cost-effective, they went ahead and outsourced it, anyway, with terrible results.
Last year, IAP won a $120 million contract to maintain and operate Walter Reed facilities. The decision reversed a 2004 finding by the Army that it would be more cost-effective to keep the work in-house. After IAP protested, Army auditors ruled that the cost estimates offered by in-house federal workers were too low. They had to submit a new bid, which added 23 employees and $16 million to their cost, according to the Army.
Yesterday, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, blamed pressure on the Army from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for the decision to privatize its civilian workforce.
“Left to its own devices, the Army would likely have suspended this privatization effort,” John Gage, president of the organization, said in a statement. “However, the political pressure from OMB left Army officials with no choice but to go forward, even if that resulted in unsatisfactory care to the nation’s veterans.”
The Army selected IAP for the five-year deal in January 2006, but IAP did not take over management until last month. During that period, the number of facilities management workers at Walter Reed dropped from about 180 to 100, and the hospital found it hard to hire replacements.
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was Walter Reed’s commander until he was relieved last week, testified this week that the privatization — in combination with a decision by the Pentagon in 2005 to close Walter Reed by 2011 — “absolutely” contributed to the problems.
No, the government isn’t always the most efficient entity for getting a job done, but how should we expect it to compare to a corporation that is trying to get the job done, make a profit, and pay dividends to shareholders?
Who will take the fall for this episode of Not Supporting the Troops? The talking heads will be looking for a scapegoat, but you can bet that the concept of privatization itself won’t be on the table.
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