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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
VA challenged on handling of whistleblower charges
Posted by:
Whistleblower Charges VA
()
Date: June 23, 2014 02:06PM
VA challenged on handling of whistleblower charges
http://hosted2.ap.org/vastr/5ecab0d35e9743199eba9b58fad3c09a/Article_2014-06-23-US-Veterans-Health-Care/id-3a4614d239e34a289f33d0fdf9c96246
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top federal investigator said Monday that the Department of Veterans Affairs is risking patients' health by not fully addressing whistleblower complaints about the quality of care. The VA's acting director responded by launching an agency review.
VA Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson said he was "deeply disappointed" in his own agency's failure to take the complaints seriously.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Monday that the VA consistently acknowledges problems but says patient care is not affected.
"This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the severity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to provide quality care to veterans," Lerner wrote to Obama. "As a result, veterans' health and safety has been unnecessarily put at risk."
Complaints about lack of access to VA health care have prompted a national outcry that led to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation. The most startling allegations have arisen out of the VA's medical center in Phoenix, where a VA inspector general's investigation found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" after being kept off an official, electronic waiting list.
Lerner says the office is reviewing more than 50 complaints alleging threats to patient health and safety and has referred 29 of them to the VA for investigation.
Gibson said he would be designating an official to assess the conclusions reached by the Office of Special Counsel, as well as its proposed corrective actions.
He said the review would be completed within 14 days.
"I respect and welcome the letter and the insights from the Office of Special Counsel," Gibson said. "I am deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistleblowers, but also in the failures within VA to take whistleblower complaints seriously."
http://hosted2.ap.org/vastr/5ecab0d35e9743199eba9b58fad3c09a/Article_2014-06-23-US-Veterans-Health-Care/id-3a4614d239e34a289f33d0fdf9c96246
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top federal investigator said Monday that the Department of Veterans Affairs is risking patients' health by not fully addressing whistleblower complaints about the quality of care. The VA's acting director responded by launching an agency review.
VA Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson said he was "deeply disappointed" in his own agency's failure to take the complaints seriously.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Monday that the VA consistently acknowledges problems but says patient care is not affected.
"This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the severity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to provide quality care to veterans," Lerner wrote to Obama. "As a result, veterans' health and safety has been unnecessarily put at risk."
Complaints about lack of access to VA health care have prompted a national outcry that led to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation. The most startling allegations have arisen out of the VA's medical center in Phoenix, where a VA inspector general's investigation found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" after being kept off an official, electronic waiting list.
Lerner says the office is reviewing more than 50 complaints alleging threats to patient health and safety and has referred 29 of them to the VA for investigation.
Gibson said he would be designating an official to assess the conclusions reached by the Office of Special Counsel, as well as its proposed corrective actions.
He said the review would be completed within 14 days.
"I respect and welcome the letter and the insights from the Office of Special Counsel," Gibson said. "I am deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistleblowers, but also in the failures within VA to take whistleblower complaints seriously."
Re: VA challenged on handling of whistleblower charges
Posted by:
4UWeE
()
Date: June 24, 2014 07:46AM
So much corruption there. I'm surprised there haven't been more whistleblowers.
Re: VA challenged on handling of whistleblower charges
Posted by:
Honesty and Integrity
()
Date: June 24, 2014 09:30AM
When the person at the top feels they can flaunt all rules and laws, then all of those under them will feel they can do the same . . . and that is what is happening all over Washington right now. It also helps that everyone in the administration knows that the current Justice Department will never appoint a special prosecutor.