WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Fallout from the scandal over substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center spread Friday when Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey resigned, and the Army's top medical facility got a new director.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he had accepted Harvey's resignation earlier in the day. Shortly afterward, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker will become commander of Walter Reed and the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command. Schoomaker leads the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command at Fort Detrick, Md.

"Schoomaker was selected for this important leadership position because of his considerable command experience at every level of the U.S. Army's medical profession," the Army said in a written statement. A deputy commanding general for the hospital and NARMC is to be named next week.

Gates told reporters that Army Undersecretary Peter Geren will become acting secretary of the Army until Bush nominates a permanent replacement for Harvey, who is to depart March 9.