Posted on 06/23/2014 5:40:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
CNN reporter Drew Griffin has owned the revelations surrounding the Department of Veterans Affairs and their scandalous treatment of military veterans. After a year of investigation, he broke the story involving the creation of secret waiting lists at a Phoenix VA hospital where 40 vets died awaiting care. Griffin’s reporting led to the uncovering of several more secret waiting lists – a revelation that forced President Barack Obama to accept the resignation of his VA secretary, Gen. Eric Shinseki.
On Monday, Griffin discussed a new report from an independent government oversight agency which found that VA has been ignoring whistleblowers for years. “Too frequently, the VA has failed to use information form whistleblowers to identify and address systematic concerns that impact patient care,” read a letter from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel addressed to the president.
“In 10 different cases across the country, specific examples, where they believe a whistleblower came forward, veterans were harmed, nothing happened,” Griffin said. “[It’s] been going on for a couple years.”
As an example of how neglectful the VA’s process of providing care to vets has been, Griffin cited one example in which one veteran applied for mental health care in 2003 and did not received a psychological evaluation until 2011. “It’s crazy,” Griffin added.
“Based on everything I know, to date, I don’t think that the VA can fix itself,” the CNN reporter declared. “I don’t know how you fix this. I really don’t know, if I was going to give advice, where you would give it, other than I would blanketly throw out every senior manager in the VA.”
“There is an entire bureaucracy here that has been allowing this to happen for years, and years, and years,” Griffin concluded. “I don’t know how you get one administrator at the top who is going to somehow change the culture without throwing out all these people.”
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Meanwhile, an investigation from the Tampa Bay Times suggested that a rule change implemented in 2010 allowed administrators to lengthen waiting times for vets. VA critics allege that this change was an part of an effort to make VA hospitals’ performance look better than it actually was.
But about 2010, the VA allowed its hospitals to lengthen to 120 days the time veterans must wait without an appointment before they are put on the waiting list, potentially cutting thousands of veterans across the nation from the list, according to a Tampa Bay Times review of VA records and interviews.
The time frame is now 90 days.
Some critics say the changes were a deliberate ploy by VA leaders to make this much-watched measure of hospital performance look better than it actually was.
But some VA administrators claim that the once chronic problems at the VA are being addressed.
“If there is one message I’d want your readers to get,” said Dr. Carolyn Clancy, a VA assistant undersecretary of health for quality, safety and value, “is that it is a new day” at the VA.
Not according to the Office of Special Counsel.
Single-payer for veterans!
And then everybody else.
EXACTLY what needs to happen in Washington!
Need to gut the entire government.
Obama care.
They can’t manage veterans, how will they deal with millions?
The V.A. system is probably the closest thing to “single payer” within the United States already.
Then “gut” it.
Another expert gives his view at the request of nobody. An expert douchebag.
Just wait until this CNN reporter gets their IRS audit notice. They’ll change their tune to how wonderful the single payer VA is working out and how much we can look forward to Obamacare.
Step 1 - Get rid of the bureaucrats.
I have been either a close observer or a service provider of the VA for forty years.
In all that time, not a thing has changed.
It’s popular (and easy) to take pot shots at CNN here at FR, but they deserve some credit for some old fashioned journalism on the VA story.
Did I do so?
Obama care.
They can’t manage veterans, how will they deal with millions?
-=0=-
Never mind Indian Health Services
No, that was intended as a general comment to the community at large. I apologize for not deleting your name from the response. Thanks for pointing this out in a non-flaming manner so I can clarify.
I try not to flame, although I’m guilty of it from time to time.
Well-stated, Jim
I suspect the vast majority of those in the system receive great care. Because some don't makes it easy to jump on the gut the system band wagon.
But before folks get all excited about this do the math. The twenty million Vets in this country are by and large far sicker than the population in general, many need specialized care that's not easily available in a civilian setting and the need for that care is only going to increase yearly for at least the next 40 or 50 years.
If the civilian system can't meet the demands of Obamacare how in the world could it absorb 20 million vets?and at what cost?
The VA can work it has done so in the past and for the most part has been doing so now.
The real problem is the fact that most of the Congress Critters of both parties have never served. They are incompetent and have appointed incompetent administrators to run the system.
Joe the biggest problem with the VA is the total abuse by both the employee’s and the many of the VETS themselves.
I’ve never seen or heard of any abuse and I’ve been in the system for more than 20 years...not sure what you are talking about
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