We used to call the place "Willy-Bo." It's got a baaaaad reputation, and has for a couple of decades.

It was so bad that my daughter-in-law was advised against having her first child there...and the Army didn't make any argument against her request for a civilian obstetrician and care at a civilian hospital in El Paso.

[link to www.bloomberg.com]
Army Hospital May Have Spread Disease With Shared Insulin Pens

By Tom Randall

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- More than 2,000 people may have been put at risk of AIDS and hepatitis by sharing insulin pens and cartridges in two Army hospitals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The FDA posted a warning today against sharing the disposable insulin shots after the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, last month said 2,114 diabetic patients may be at risk “as a result of incorrect procedures.” The sharing occurred from 2007-2009, the FDA said in a statement issued today.

The shots carry multiple doses of insulin intended for a single patient. The hospitals reportedly replaced the needle for each shot as indicated, though they may have improperly used the same pens for multiple patients, according to the FDA. Even with a fresh needle, the pen reservoir or cartridge can still be contaminated with blood, the FDA said.

“They were changing pens and weren’t following the manufacturer’s procedures,” said Clarence Davis III, a spokesman for the hospital, today in a telephone interview. “There is an ongoing investigation to determine how it happened. It wasn’t cost-cutting.”

The Army identified a second hospital that may have been sharing the shots as Fort Polk’s Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital in Louisiana. “Less than 10” patients may have been exposed there, Davis said. Two types of insulin pens were used, he said, declining to identify the brands.