Walter Reed management is the Army Medical corps. They used to hire and manage all the maintenance workers. Now they hire contractors, and "inspect" the work. THAT IS PRIVATIZATION. Where the janitors and cooks and so on were government workers before, they are now employed by a contractor.quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:Walter Reed had a contingent of military personnel who were charged with maintaining the buildings, grounds, kitchens and services. Those troops have been replaced by contractors who hire civilians. That is the meaning of Privatization.
Wrong. Hiring a civilian contractor does not mean the entire hospital is suddenly privately owned. If Walter Reed is privately owned, why did the Secretary of the Army have to resign? Very simple, because it's a federally operated facility just like other VA hospitals. They receive federal money, they do not rely on profits to operate like a private hospital.
So once again, yes Walter Reed is a government run facility and is an example of what will happen with socialized health care. Vanderbilt is a private facility and is an example of keeping the power of health care in the private sector. Socialising health care is not the solution.
It is also privatization when the government sells a business, lock stock and barrel. But that is NOT what was changed at Walter Reed. Everyone at a VA hospital works for the Veterans Administration. They get a paycheck from the government, they are on the government payroll, or they are unpaid volunteers. At Army Hospitals a company, like Halliburton or Kellog Brown and Root gets the government check, and they hire and pay the people who do the work. That is Privatization. IT IS NOT NECESSARY to sell the whole operation to the highest bidder and then contract for the services.
As is common with extremists, you have taken a "partial Privatization" and denied that it is privatization because the overall management of the facility is still in Army hands.
http://www.aolelectionsblog.com/2007/03/18/plan-to-priv...eed-stopped-for-now/