10 May Update:
The Hill reports that the VA has named an interim director to replace the director of the Phoenix VA, Sharon Helman, who was placed on administrative leave on May 1.
Helman’s replacement is Steve Young from the Salt Lake City VA, which he has led since 2009. The Phoenix system oversees healthcare for about 85,000 veterans with a $500 million budget, according to the Hill.
Before taking over in Salt Lake City, Young worked at VA facilities in Chicago and Florida, the AP reported.
The Hill:
The Phoenix system has come under heavy criticism over allegations of 40 preventable patient deaths and a waiting list it kept secret to conceal its long backlog. Several senior Republicans in Congress have called for the resignation of VA secretary Eric Shinseki over a nationwide backlog and instances of preventable deaths.
Read more here.
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(Personal) Update:
Some seem surprised that there would be “secret waiting lists” at some VA hospitals.
As a veteran, I have been following the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans affairs very closely. I have written scores of articles on such veterans affairs, including the tragic statistics of veterans homelessness and suicides, the appalling scandal that was Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the sad stories of PTSD and other veterans’ mental, “moral” and physical injuries and illnesses that are affecting hundreds of thousands of our wars-returning veterans.
I have also lamented the approximately 1,500 veterans who have lost a major limb as a result of battle injuries in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the high number of unemployed veterans, etc.
I have spoken well of the work our Department of Veterans Affairs does for our veterans and have even written glowingly and full of hope and expectations on President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to head the Veterans Affairs Department.
But I have also criticized the VA for its notorious backlog — logjam is a better word — in processing veterans’ benefits claims and for other inefficiencies.
Finally, in the very same article that I praised Obama’s selection, I blasted the Bush administration for its VA Department — while a war was raging — in my view often failing to adequately protect and support those entrusted to it, those who have sacrificed so much for their country.
Although I still admire Shinseki and although I fully support the Obama administration, I will not shrink from following and reporting on the facts of what has the potential of becoming a shameful scandal.
Yes, I was surprised, too — shocked is a better word — to read about the Phoenix medical center’s “secret waiting list” to hide delays, possibly affecting dozens of patients who died while waiting for care.
About “a department clinic in Fort Collins, Colo., falsifying appointment records to give the impression that staff doctors had seen patients within the agency’s goal of 14 days,” etc.
But I also note that “The Veterans of Foreign Wars disagreed Monday with the American Legion’s call for resignations, instead demanding strong action from Shinseki and greater congressional oversight rather than removals” and that “The American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that the VA health network, which serves more than 8 million veterans, achieved marks equal to or better than those in the private sector in 2013.”
In this matter there should be no politics, no partisanship. Just find the problems, fix them and continue to honor our veterans.
Original post:
While the shameful treatment of our veterans needing medical care at several VA hospitals — “secret wait lists,” falsified reports, the VA’s acknowledgement that at least 23 veterans have died because of delayed care at its hospitals — has been widely reported, it has not been discussed here at TMV.
A reader rightly brought this up and, as “military affairs columnist,” I take full responsibility.
Two senators have already called for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). On Tuesday, Shinseki said he would not resign, “but will work to rebuild confidence” and is promising “swift and appropriate” punishment for any employees who may have been involved with medical appointment delays and subsequent cover-ups at VA hospitals in Arizona and Colorado.
(Read more of a Military Times interview with the Secretary here )
President Obama is standing by the Secretary despite the senators’ calls and those of two prominent veterans groups, the American Legion and Concerned Veterans for America, for the Secretary to resign.
This morning, CNN reports that the House Veterans Affairs Committee in a voice vote agreed today to subpoena Secretary Shinseki “in the wake of accusations that his department had deadly delays in health care at some of its hospitals.” The subpoena will cover e-mails that allegedly discussed the destruction of the so-called secret list of veterans waiting for care at a Phoenix VA hospital.
