Maj. Blaine McGraw has been charged on 61 total counts, including more than 50 of secretly recording dozens of women he saw as patients at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood. (Bell County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office)
The Army Inspector General will review medical treatment policies and practices after an OB-GYN assigned to Fort Hood’s hospital was charged with secretly recording more than 40 patients, the service said Wednesday.
The inspector general’s review will run alongside the Army’s own internal evaluation to reinforce “institutional accountability as a bedrock of the Army’s health care system,” the service said.
“We are looking closely at how training is conducted, how standards are enforced and how leaders ensure that policies are being followed,” Lt. Gen. Mary K. Izaguirre, the Army Surgeon General, said in a statement after touring Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday.
The Army did not provide the full scope of its internal review or the inspector general’s, such as whether any bases beyond Fort Hood will be included.
Though the Army and its inspector general can review and evaluate hospitals, they will need to work with the Defense Health Agency to implement any changes or recommendations. Izaguirre said the service is committed to working with the agency “quickly and transparently to maintain faith with soldiers and families.”
The surgeon general visited Fort Hood alongside Under Secretary of the Army Mike Obadal and Rear Adm. Matthew Case, acting deputy director of the DHA. They reviewed DHA policies and their implementation in Army medical facilities, and surveyed patient safety practices, protective safeguards, management standards and overall care quality.
“Our ethical and moral imperative is to ensure deployment-ready forces while providing a safe and professional environment for all patients,” Obadal said in a statement. “When our soldiers and our families visit a military medical treatment facility, they place enormous trust in the providers and the system.”
DHA officials also said Wednesday in a statement they are committed to an environment of trust and safety.
“We joined Army leadership at Darnall so current and future patients know we are doing everything possible, so they feel safe and confident in the high level of care we expect in our facilities,” the DHA said.
The tour occurred on the same day the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel announced it charged Maj. Blaine McGraw, 47, with 54 counts of indecent visual recording and three additional crimes.
McGraw, an OB-GYN, was accused Oct. 17 of secretly recording a patient and was immediately suspended, according to Fort Hood officials. Army Criminal Investigation Division arrived within hours to begin an investigation, which has included sifting through more than half a terabyte of digital media.
The charges against McGraw cover actions that began Jan. 1 and involve 44 women, one of whom was recorded outside of the hospital.
He is the second Army doctor in the past two years to face criminal charges for sexual misconduct with patients. Maj. Michael Stockin was convicted at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., of sexually abusing 41 patients and sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison.
