U.S. & World

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― President Bush apologized Friday for the shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and promised during a visit to the facility for war veterans that "we're going to fix the problem."

Bush toured the main hospital and Abrams Hall, where soldiers were transferred after they were vacated from the facility's Building 18, where moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems went unchecked until reported by the media. He said his conversations with those who had been in Building 18 left him "disturbed by their accounts."

"The problems at Walter Reed were caused by bureaucratic and administrative failures," the president told about 100 medical workers and patients at the hospital. "The system failed you and it failed our troops and we're going to fix it."

Among the areas of the hospital that Bush toured were a typical - but empty - patient room in Abrams Hall that featured a large wide-screen television and a Macintosh computer, and the physical therapy unit of the main hospital. Along the way, he awarded 10 Purple Hearts to soldiers recovering from serious wounds suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq

"It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear the uniform and not get the best possible care," the president said at the end of his more than two-hour visit, cut short from its planned length by almost an hour. "I apologize for what they went through and we're going to fix the problem."

He said important steps, including the replacement of military leadership in charge of the hospital, have been taken already.

"We're not going to be satisfied until everyone gets the kind of care that their folks and families expect," Bush said.

The president, though, devoted much of his brief statement to praising the medical care that members of the military and veterans receive at Walter Reed.

"The soldiers and Marines stay here only for a few months, but the compassion they receive here stays with them for a lifetime," Bush said. "Americans must understand that the problems recently uncovered at Walter Reed were not the problems of medical care."

The appearance came amid criticism from some soldier activists. Earlier in the day Bobby Muller, president of Veterans for America, said Bush wasn't going to see areas of the hospital most in need of change. He cited Ward 54, where soldiers are suffering from acute mental health conditions, and outpatient holding facilities where soldiers see long waits to get processed out of the Army.

"Walter Reed is not a photo-op," Muller said. "Walter Reed is still broken. The DoD health care system is still broken. ... Our troops need their commander in chief to start working harder for them."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said "I would disagree with the characterization" that Bush is using Walter Reed as merely a picture-taking opportunity. She said it took some time to clear enough room on the president's schedule to spend over three hours with patients and staff at Walter Reed, and that Bush intends to find out from them what more needs to be done.

"He is going to spend ample time there to hear from them," Perino said. "He will talk about ... bureaucratic and administrative failures that need to be addressed."

Walter Reed is considered one of the Army's premier facilities for treating the wounded. The revelations in mid-February of poor treatment and neglect of those wounded in war was an embarrassment to Bush, who routinely speaks of the need to support the troops and praises the care they receive back home.

Troops and veterans say many of the issues have been well-known for a while, and have long been in need of greater attention.

Bush declared the situation at Walter Reed unacceptable and ordered a full-scale review of care for veterans. He appointed a presidential commission to study the problems. The Pentagon, Veterans Affairs Department and Congress are conducting a slew of reviews. An investigation of one historic retirement home in Washington was spurred by charges of patients with severe bed sores, including one with maggots, reported CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

In the wake of reports of problems at Walter Reed, three high-level Pentagon officials were forced to step down and lawmakers on Capitol Hill were outraged. This week, the House voted to create a coterie of case managers, advocates and counselors for injured troops. The bill also establishes a hotline for medical patients to report problems in their treatment.

On Friday, the president was touring both the main hospital and Abrams Hall, where soldiers were transferred after they were vacated from Building 18, where moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems went unchecked until reported by the media.

While meeting with soldiers, he was awarding 10 Purple Hearts to those who suffered serious wounds in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afterward, Bush was speaking to about 100 medical workers to explain what his administration is doing to improve care for veterans at facilities nationwide.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)