Walter Reed Army Medical Center began repairs yesterday on Building 18.

The facility’s commander, Major General George Weightman, said Army staff members inspected each of the 54 rooms at the building and discovered that outstanding repair orders for half the rooms had been completed. He said mold removal had begun on several rooms and that holes in ceilings, stained carpets, and leaking faucets were being fixed.

Building 18, in particular, symbolizes the indifference and neglect that many of the wounded say they experience at Walter Reed.

Yesterday, General Weightman said a broken elevator in the building had been repaired and that soldiers were working to improve the outside of the building, including removing ice and snow. The slippery conditions have kept some soldiers in their rooms. A garage door that has been broken for months will soon be repaired as well.

Specialist Jeremy Duncan has been moved to another room while workers make repairs. Specialist Duncan will be able to return to his room when the work is completed, General Weightman said.

Walter Reed and Army officials have been “meeting continuously for three days” since the articles began appearing, General Weightman said. A large roundtable meeting with Army and Defense officials will take place at the Pentagon early this morning to continue talks about improvements in the outpatient system, he added.

General Weightman said the medical center has received an outpouring of concern about conditions and procedures since the articles appeared and has taken steps to improve what soldiers and their families describe as a messy battlefield of bureaucratic problems and mistreatment.

“We’re starting to attack how we’ll fix and mitigate” some of the problems, he said.

Social workers will be stationed around the clock at Mologne House, the 200-room hotel on the post where many of the outpatients live. Plans are being developed to better train other staff members who deal with outpatient needs.

The Army will also consider moving some outpatients to its other medical centers throughout America and will determine over the next weeks whether more workers are needed at Walter Reed.

Last week, Walter Reed launched a criminal investigation of Michael Wagner, who for the last three years directed the Army’s largest effort to help the most vulnerable soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, after the Washington Post sought a response to his activities while he ran the Army’s Medical Family Assistance Center, a position he left several weeks ago.

While he was being paid to provide this vital service to patients, outpatients, and their relations, Mr. Wagner was also seeking funders and soliciting donations for his own new charity, based in Texas, according to documents and interviews with current and former staff members. Some families also said Mr. Wagner treated them callously and made it hard for them to receive assistance.

The commander at Walter Reed, General Weightman, said the probe by the Criminal Investigation Command “reflects the seriousness with which we take these allegations.”