Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76: Implications for the Future (2008); Congressional rept

摘要

This report examines the issues surrounding the Walter Reed public- private competition conducted under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 and its potential impact on future Department of Defense (DOD) competitions. Circular A-76 is a policy and a process first initiated in 1966 that was designed to determine whether federal employees or private sector contractors are best to perform activities deemed commercial. A series of articles that first appeared in the Washington Post chronicled the dilapidated conditions and the substandard medical treatment afforded to returning veterans. Media reports surrounding the competition have suggested that one possible contributing factor to the Walter Reed controversy was the decision to privatize base support services. What caused the problems at Walter Reed. To what extent were the problems related to the A-76 competition. Did it go badly because A-76 is an inherently flawed policy, or was it a convergence of events. Should Congress draw any conclusions from the outcome of the Walter Reed competition for future competitions on military medical facilities. While it may be hard to draw conclusions of cause and effect, there may be lessons learned applicable to future competitions. Some have suggested that constrained Army resources, due to a convergence of events, may have caused and/or contributed to the problems in the competition and led to the attrition of skilled base support services staff. P.L. 110-181, the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), includes several provisions that affect A-76 competitions. H.R. 5658, the House-passed version of the FY2009 NDAA, contains several new provisions which could impact the conduct of future competitions.