News Clips 8 May 2014
The Huffington Post: American Legion Calls for Shinseki to Quit, But Should He? (7 May,
Jon Soltz, 40.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Amid the recent calls from the American Legion and Koch brothers-backed Concerned Veterans
for America for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to resign, I will admit that Secretary
Shinseki kind of stinks at one particular thing -- public relations.
The New York Times: American Legion, Citing Problems, Calls for Veterans Secretary to
Resign (7 May, Richard A Oppel Jr., 16.2M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
When the commander of the American Legion, Daniel Dellinger, asked the secretary of veterans
affairs, Eric Shinseki, last month about why no one in his department had been fired despite an
array of serious problems over the years, he was taken aback at the answer.
Hyperlink to Above Article
NBC: Nightly News (7 May, 8.2M broadcast viewers; New York, NY)
This 4:17 minute video features an interview with Sec. Eric Shinseki. The report includes
commentary from several Veterans, American Legion National Commander Dan Dillinger, and
IAVA CEO Paul Rieckhoff.
Hyperlink to Above Article
CBS (Video): CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley (7 May, 6.5M broadcast viewers; New
York, NY)
Eric Shinseki is under fire - and there are calls for him to resign - amid claims that 40 patients
died at the VA Administration Hospital in Phoenix because of delays in their care.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Time: Veteran Affairs Secretary: I Won’t Resign (7 May, Dan Kedmey, 4.6M online
visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Secretary Eric Shinseki rejected calls from veterans advocacy groups for his resignation
Tuesday, after allegations of systematic neglect at veteran care facilities
Hyperlink to Above Article
The Wall Street Journal: Veterans Groups Split on Support for Shinseki (7 May, Ben
Kesling, 4.3M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Major veterans organizations are split over whether the head of the Department of Veterans
Affairs should step down, a day after he dismissed a call from the American Legion to do so.
Hyperlink to Above Article
NBCNews.com (Video): Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki 'Angry' Over VA Hospital
Deaths (7 May, 4.1M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he was outraged and surprised at allegations of
unnecessary deaths at the veterans' hospital in Phoenix, but promised a full investigation.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips
8 May 2014
1
Hyperlink to Above Article
NPR – All Things Considered (Audio): VA Secretary Responds To Call For His
Resignation (7 May, 3.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki responds to calls for his resignation, following reports
of Veterans dying while waiting for treatment.
Hyperlink to Above Article
NPR: Shinseki: 'Swift Action' If Problems At VA Hospital Are True (7 May, Scott Neuman,
3.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
"Allegations like this get my attention," Shinseki tells All Things Considered. "I take it seriously
and my habit is to get to the bottom of it… "If allegations are substantiated, we'll take swift and
appropriate action," he tells host Robert Siegel.
Hyperlink to Above Article
The Blaze: Congress Reacts to Military Mental and Brain Health Issues (7 May,
Montgomery J. Granger, 3M online visitors/mo)
The Veterans Administration can be a hero here instead of the villian. If Secretary of Veterans
Affairs retired general Eric Shinseki would pay attention to what’s going on in Congress, he
could beat legislators to the punch: He could ask for funds to implement the essence of the
MEPS Act within VA policy and practice.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Military.com: Shinseki Says He Won't Step Down (7 May, 2.8M online visitors/mo; San
Francisco, CA)
The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday that he will not resign, but
acknowledged he has work to do to rebuild the confidence of veterans.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Arizona Republic (Military Times): Q & A with Gen. Shinseki: VA is here to care for vets (7
May, Leo Shane III, 1.4M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is promising "swift and appropriate" punishment for any
employees who may have been involved with medical appointment delays and subsequent
coverups at VA hospitals in Arizona and Colorado.
Hyperlink to Above Article
MSNBC: Veterans Affairs Chief Eric Shinseki not ready to call it quits (7 May, Amanda
Sakuma, 562k online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Secretary Eric Shinseki isn’t ready to call it quits from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs just
yet… White House officials and some top leaders in Congress warn the calls for Shinseki’s
resignation may be premature.
Hyperlink to Above Article
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Las Vegas Review-Journal: Reid defends VA chief against calls for his resignation (6
May, Steve Terreault, 452k online visitors/mo; Las Vegas, NV)
…Shinseki still enjoys the support of Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada
who says the Cabinet member should be commended and not criticized as he attempts to lead
an agency beset by challenges brought on by the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Hyperlink to Above Article
HotAir.com: Two more VA offices falsifying records to hide long wait times,
whistleblowers allege (7 May Ed Morrissey, 475k online visitors/mo)
The scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs widened this morning to include two more
offices, both in Texas, accused of falsifying records to hide horrendous wait times for medical
treatment.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Austin American-Statesman: Texas whistleblower speaks to VA investigators on vet wait
time claims (7 May, Jeremy Schwartz, 294k online visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
A day after accusing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials in Texas of an elaborate
scheme to manipulate wait time data at medical facilities, a government whistleblower said he
was contacted by VA investigators Wednesday about his allegations, which were first revealed
by the American-Statesman.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Austin American-Statesman: VA employee: Wait list data was manipulated in Austin, San
Antonio (6 May, Jeremy Schwartz, 294k online visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
A Department of Veterans Affairs scheduling clerk has accused VA officials in Austin and San
Antonio of manipulating medical appointment data in an attempt to hide long wait times to see
doctors and psychiatrists, the American-Statesman has learned.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Military Times: Senator backs alternative treatments for vets' pain (7 May, Patricia Kime,
233k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his position as chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, is pressing for expanded veterans’ access to treatments such as acupuncture,
yoga, meditation and animal-assisted therapy for chronic pain.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Star-Banner: VA nursing home a perfect fit here (7 May, 206k online visitors/mo; Ocala, FL)
North Central Florida, especially Marion County, needs a Veterans Administration nursing
home. With an aging population of more than 40,000 veterans in the community, and an
estimated 600,000 more living in surrounding counties, the numbers add up to a quantifiable
need for such a facility.
Hyperlink to Above Article
3
Roll Call (WGBD Blog): Senator on Veterans Affairs Allegations: ‘Just Because CNN Says
Something, Doesn’t Always Make It The Case’ (Video) (7 May, JM Rieger, 202k online
visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
During Senate floor debate Wednesday over authorizing funds for the Department of Veterans
Affairs in 18 states, the Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders criticized
members for jumping to conclusions over alleged misconduct at VA facilities, including in
Phoenix, Ariz., which has received extensive media attention following a CNN report last week.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Houston Community Newspapers: Lt. Governor Dewhurst addresses Veterans Affairs
claims (8 May, 170k online visitors/mo; Houston, TX)
Today, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst responded to claims that the Department of Veterans
Affairs has been manipulating appointment data in an attempt to conceal wait times in Austin
and San Antonio…
Hyperlink to Above Article
Stars and Stripes (Beaver County Pa. Times): Family of Marine Corps vet sues Pittsburgh
VA for wrongful death (7 May, Kristen Doerschner, 159k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
The family of an Aliquippa, Pa., veteran who died while being treated for lung cancer and after
contracting Legionnaire’s disease filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Veterans Affairs
Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KLAS-TV (Video): S. Nevada VA hospital making efforts to improve care (7 May, 121k
online visitors/mo; Las Vegas, NV)
8 News NOW walked through two different VA facilities and saw a lot of veterans happy with the
services they are getting. However, there are many patients who do have complaints, and the
hospital has even been investigated by the inspector general.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KOLD-TV (Video): Nearly a dozen Phoenix-area veterans switch to Tucson VA (7 May,
Barbara Grijalva, 114k online visitors/mo; Tucson, AZ)
Problems at the Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix could have veterans turning to the
VA in Tucson for help… a spokesman for the Tucson-based Southern Arizona VA Health Care
System said the local VA has been getting inquiries from Phoenix-area veterans wanting to
switch to Tucson.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KPNX (Video): Arizona Nightly News (7 May, 48k broadcast viewers; Phoenix, AZ)
This 2:13 minute video features comments from Sec. Eric Shinseki’s interview with Military
Times. It also mentions Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s call for all VA facilities to review appointment
scheduling practices.
Hyperlink to Above Article
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KTBC-TV (Video): Austin VA caught up in waiting list scandal (7 May, 36k online
visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
Texas Senator John Cornyn is calling for congressional hearings into allegations that waiting
lists are being manipulated at VA clinics… The new outpatient facility here in Austin may be part
of that review.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Modern Healthcare: Pattern of problems with Veterans Affairs healthcare system (7 May,
Rachel Landen, 30k online visitors/mo; Chicago, IL)
As accusations of mismanagement, falsified records and preventable patient deaths rock the
Veterans Affairs healthcare system, some who are familiar with the VA say the failures are
consistent with a pattern of well-documented problems.
Hyperlink to Above Article
The Athens News: For victims of PTSD, Athens VA clinic offers help (7 May, Fred Kight,
18k online visitors/mo; Athens, OH)
It happens all the time—someone suffering from nightmares, flashbacks or some other kind of
mental health problem walks into the Veterans Affairs clinic in Athens looking for help, and it's
theirs for the asking.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KPHO-TV (Video): V.A. workers say 'secret list' controversy is frustrating (7 May,
Jonathan Lowe, 17k online visitors/day; Phoenix, AZ)
For the first time since the scandal made headlines, we're hearing from doctors and nurses who
continue to walk and work in the V.A.'s halls while the investigation swirls around them… "We've
been frustrated by the fact that serious allegations were brought. But then we feel some in the
press have run with those as if they were established fact," Chesser added.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage joins national homeless veterans initiative (7 May,
Devin Kelly, 239k online visitors/mo; Anchorage, AK)
Anchorage is joining a national initiative to end homelessness among U.S. military veterans by
2015, officials announced Wednesday.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KSTU-TV (Video): Government, charity groups attack problem of veteran homelessness
(7 May, Max Roth, 210k online visitors/mo; Salt Lake City, UT)
The Valor House provides 72 rooms like Lynch’s to veterans who are homeless or in imminent
danger of homelessness. It’s one part of a multi-level approach the Department of Veteran
Affairs has undertaken with Salt Lake City, the Road Home, Volunteers of America, and other
advocates for the homeless.
Hyperlink to Above Article
5
Victorville Daily Press: Female veterans are treated differently (7 May, Fred Dunning, 79k
online visitors/mo; Victorville, CA)
Women feel they are widely ignored by the Veterans Administration (VA)… Every veteran who
has symptoms of MST is eligible for treatment at the VA, no matter the length of service. Part of
the problem is the VA is not equipped to deal with female issues, so the VA tries unsuccessfully,
making things worse.
Hyperlink to Above Article
The Huffington Post: American Legion Calls for Shinseki to Quit, But Should He? (7 May,
Jon Soltz, 40.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Amid the recent calls from the American Legion and Koch brothers-backed Concerned Veterans
for America for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to resign, I will admit that Secretary
Shinseki kind of stinks at one particular thing -- public relations.
Throughout his tenure, whenever his leadership was getting attacked by Republicans, Secretary
Shinseki never made it about himself. He never really tried to defend himself, or take a more
aggressive posture toward promoting his strengths in the public eye. In fact, I'd venture to say
that the overwhelming number of Americans has no idea who the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
is.
That, more than any deficiency at a given VA outpost, is hurting him a lot. But it also says a lot
about the kind of person that he is. He's not a typical Washington operative. Throughout all the
attacks on him, he's kept his head down, and kept working for veterans.
When many complained that the backlog of disability claims among veterans was unacceptable,
and that Shinseki was the man to blame for it, he didn't much offer a personal defense. No,
Shinseki just went about his job, and the backlog has seen a pretty significant dent in it, as a
result. Just last month, it was reported that the claims backlog was reduced by 44 percent.
And on the health care front, year after year, according to an independent survey VA services
continue to outrank private hospitals in customer satisfaction and out-performed the private
sector benchmarks on several widely accepted measures of effective care such as reduction in
rates of hospital associated infections where VA is a leader and the private health care industry
is struggling.
This isn't to say that what's been reported at the Phoenix VA facility, and others like it, is
acceptable. Far from it. It makes my skin crawl and my blood boil to hear that possibly as many
as 40 veterans may have died, waiting for care from that facility. As someone who lived in
Pittsburgh after returning from my first tour, it made me furious to hear about the Legionella
outbreak at the facility there. We cannot accept substandard care for veterans whether that is in
VA hospitals or private sectors hospitals.
Yes, Secretary Shinseki does owe us an explanation. But he owes it after a thorough
investigation of these serious allegations is able to determine exactly what happened. Shinseki
has stated that if the investigation substantiates allegations of employee misconduct, swift and
appropriate action will be taken.
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I'm not one to shy away from calling him to step down. I backed the calls to have Secretary Jim
Nicholson resign, under President Bush, when it turned out he had grossly mismanaged budget
requests to Congress, and ended up having to come back to beg for billions of dollars in
emergency funding. But, in that case, Secretary Nicholson was intimately involved with
budgeting the agency. That was a huge chunk of his job. We have no idea to what extent VA
health officials at an individual VA facilities -- of which there are 151 hospitals, 820 community
clinics, and 300 vet counseling centers alone -- passed information about their challenges
locally up their chain.
Also, it is rank hypocrisy for those on the right to be raising a ruckus. Senator Bernie Sanders
introduced a very sensible piece of veterans legislation that was defeated by Senate
Republicans, in February. The bill would have put just a little over $20 billion into expanding and
improving VA health care services. Nearly every single veterans group, except the Koch-backed
Concerned Veterans for America, supported it. That includes the American Legion. There's one
reason that the bill didn't pass, and that's because of Mitch McConnell and his caucus.
Something tells me that, right now, they are trying to do everything they can to deflect attention
away from their February votes, a month before Memorial Day.
In the end, there will be accountability for the issues we're seeing at VA centers. But, we need
to wait and see what an investigation finds. For, while it could be that VA senior leaders are to
blame, we also may find out that these VA centers desperately could have used more staff and
funds. In that case, Senate Republicans will have to explain their vote to deny funding for
veterans, when they derailed the Sanders bill.
The New York Times: American Legion, Citing Problems, Calls for Veterans Secretary to
Resign (7 May, Richard A Oppel Jr., 16.2M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
When the commander of the American Legion, Daniel Dellinger, asked the secretary of veterans
affairs, Eric Shinseki, last month about why no one in his department had been fired despite an
array of serious problems over the years, he was taken aback at the answer.
“He said he didn’t need to fire anyone; he needed to retrain them,” Mr. Dellinger recalled. “That
was a red flag.”
Mr. Dellinger’s alarm grew when reports soon emerged that the department’s medical center in
Phoenix, and possibly other veterans hospitals, was using off-the-books lists to conceal long
appointment waiting times. Finally, when the department’s under secretary for health insisted in
recent congressional testimony that nothing had been found wrong in Phoenix, Mr. Dellinger
had had enough.
This week the Legion, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential veterans organizations,
called for Mr. Shinseki and two other senior department officials to resign, the first time the
group has sought to oust a public official since 1978.
“This was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Mr. Dellinger said in an interview. Just
a year ago, the Legion aggressively defended Mr. Shinseki, a retired four-star general and Army
chief of staff, as an “honest man” who had been “unfairly maligned” by his critics.
The turnabout by the Legion underscored the political peril faced by Mr. Shinseki, who has been
President Obama’s only secretary of veterans affairs. Soon after the Legion’s announcement,
7
several leading Republican lawmakers, including Senator John Cornyn of Texas, called for Mr.
Shinseki to quit, while the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said a change
in leadership at the V.A. “might be a good step.”
Mr. Shinseki, who according to Senate aides is expected to testify next Thursday before the
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has placed two top officials at the Phoenix hospital on
leave and vowed swift action if allegations are substantiated by an investigation being carried
out by the department’s inspector general.
Congressional officials say that as many as 40 veterans died waiting for care in Phoenix, though
officials in Phoenix assert that none of those deaths have been linked to delayed care.
Similar allegations have surfaced about facilities in Colorado and Texas. On Thursday, the
House Veterans Affairs Committee will meet to consider issuing subpoenas for documents and
testimony related to the alleged hidden list in Phoenix.
Last month, the department also revealed that the deaths of at least 23 veterans were linked to
delayed cancer screenings at hospitals over the past several years.
Though not as loud, the growing calls from Republicans for Mr. Shinseki’s resignation echo their
push to oust the former secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, who
oversaw the bungled rollout of the federal health care exchange until her resignation last month.
Though the health care law is expected to be the major issue in the fall midterm congressional
elections, several Democratic senators face tight races in states with high populations of
veterans, and problems with veterans’ health care could resonate in those campaigns.
Yet for all the mounting pressure, some Republicans, including Senators John McCain and Jeff
Flake of Arizona, as well as the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee,
Representative Jeff Miller of Florida, have not called for Mr. Shinseki’s resignation, saying that
while they are deeply troubled by the recent allegations about Phoenix, they want to wait for the
results of the inspector general’s inquiry.
The White House says it has confidence in Mr. Shinseki, and no influential Democrats have
called for him to step down. Senator Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who is chairman
of the Veterans Affairs Committee, vowed to get to the root of the problems. But he said he
feared efforts to make the V.A. into a whipping boy for the smaller-government movement, even
though surveys show that, over all, most veterans are satisfied with their health care.
“What I don’t want to see is this issue politicized by these same folks who don’t like Social
Security, they don’t like Medicare, they don’t like Medicaid, they don’t like the Postal Service,”
Mr. Sanders said, adding that some Republican senators had come out for full or partial
privatization of veterans’ health care.
Some other veterans groups are backing Mr. Shinseki. The National Association of State
Directors of Veterans Affairs said resignation calls were a “premature rush to judgment,” and
praised Mr. Shinseki for shrinking a backlog of disability compensation claims for wounded
veterans, reducing the number of homeless veterans and enrolling two million additional
veterans for health care.
Rick Weidman, the executive director for policy and government affairs at the Vietnam Veterans
of America, said more focus was needed on why some veterans hospitals appeared to have felt
8
the need to hide long wait times. While the system has enough resources overall, he said, too
many have been allocated to nonclinical functions, and not enough to doctors and nurses
seeing patients.
“You got the troops, but they are not in the right configuration,” he said.
Mr. Weidman, who supports Mr. Shinseki but favors replacing some officials beneath him,
recalled a conversation more than a year ago where Mr. Shinseki asked him, “Do you trust me?”
Mr. Weidman said that he did, but that he questioned the advice Mr. Shinseki was getting from
other department officials who he said had resisted shifting resources into primary care
physicians and other clinicians.
“Who I don’t trust are the people giving you bad intel,” Mr. Weidman said he told the secretary.
Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the largest
group of post-Sept. 11 veterans, said its members were “outraged, disappointed and
flabbergasted” by the allegations about Phoenix.
“There is a total loss of confidence in the V.A. right now,” Mr. Rieckhoff said. “Unfortunately, the
V.A. is becoming a punch line.”
NBC: Nightly News (7 May, 8.2M broadcast viewers; New York, NY)
This 4:17 minute video features an interview with Sec. Eric Shinseki. The report includes
commentary from several Veterans, American Legion National Commander Dan Dillinger, and
IAVA CEO Paul Rieckhoff.
Hyperlink to Above Article
CBS (Video): CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley (7 May, 6.5M broadcast viewers; New
York, NY)
The secretary of veteran affairs is defending his record and his job.
Eric Shinseki is under fire - and there are calls for him to resign - amid claims that 40 patients
died at the VA Administration Hospital in Phoenix because of delays in their care.
Debbie Allen believes her husband, Mel, a Vietnam veteran, died of bladder cancer after the VA
delayed his tests and diagnosis for six months.He'd been a patient at the VA Hospital in
Phoenix.
"It's sad," she said. "It's disgusting. It's a betrayal to somebody who was willing to serve his
country. And then when Mel needed the VA and needed his country to help him in his time of
need, they turned their back on him."
The secretary told us that when first he heard the charges in Phoenix he sent inspectors
immediately.
"I take every one of these incidents and allegations seriously, and we're going to go and
investigate. The most serious of these were in Phoenix," he said.
9
But the Phoenix investigation is not the only one. At least five other VA hospitals have been
accused of mismanagement and preventable deaths and at two of those - Pittsburgh and
Atlanta - VA officials in charge got large bonus checks just after the deaths were revealed.
David Dellinger is the national commander of the American Legion, which called this week for
Shinseki to resign.
"If this was private sector, you'd be fired," Dellinger said. "If this was the military, you'd be
relieved of duty. And he's done neither."
The secretary told us disciplinary action is pending in Pittsburgh and Atlanta, but the specifics
are not yet public.
Shinseki also says he will not resign. Instead he will work to repair what's gone wrong.
Is there any one thing that he is angry about, that he most wants to fix?
"All of this makes me angry, I mean whenever we have allegations like this, even until they're
founded," he said. "I didn't come here to watch things happen this way. I came here to make
things better. And in the main we've done that."
Despite the break with the American Legion almost every other veterans organization still
supports Shinseki for managing the explosion growth of the VA. Shinseki got his strongest
endorsement where it counts - full backing from the president.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Time: Veteran Affairs Secretary: I Won’t Resign (7 May, Dan Kedmey, 4.6M online
visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Secretary Eric Shinseki rejected calls from veterans advocacy groups for his resignation
Tuesday, after allegations of systematic neglect at veteran care facilities
Embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki rejected calls for his resignation Tuesday,
amid allegations that veteran care facilities had neglected to treat patients in need of urgent
care.
Shinseki told the Wall Street Journal that he would work toward improving communications with
the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans advocacy group, which called for Shinseki’s
resignation on Monday.
The Legion accused Shinseki of “poor oversight” after whistleblowers came forward with reports
of a care facility in Phoenix shunting patients onto a secret waitlist, obscuring prolonged wait
times that may have contributed to patient deaths.
“I’m very sensitive to the allegations,” Shinseki told the Journal, promising that he would react to
the conclusions of an independent investigation.
Hyperlink to Above Article
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The Wall Street Journal: Veterans Groups Split on Support for Shinseki (7 May, Ben
Kesling, 4.3M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Major veterans organizations are split over whether the head of the Department of Veterans
Affairs should step down, a day after he dismissed a call from the American Legion to do so.
The Disabled American Veterans said Wednesday that it will continue to support Secretary Eric
Shinseki, but said he must assure them he is dealing with questions of VA safety and patient
treatment, according to a statement from Garry Augustine, the group's executive director.
"DAV remains deeply concerned about allegations of secret waiting lists, falsification of medical
appointment records and the destruction of official documents," Mr. Augustine said in the
statement. "I am calling on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to answer not just the public allegations
but also some fundamental questions about the entire VA health care system."
On Monday, the nation's largest veterans group, the American Legion, with about 2.4 million
members, called for the resignation of Mr. Shinseki and two other top VA officials. The demand
comes after allegations of mismanagement that contributed to patient deaths. Recently, at least
three whistleblowers and the House Committee on Veterans Affairs allege the Phoenix VA
created secret patient waiting lists to make it appear as if primary-care wait times were short.
The director of the Phoenix VA, Sharon Helman, and her chief of staff have said they have no
knowledge of a secret wait list. Mr. Shinseki put Ms. Helman on administrative leave pending
the results of the inspector general's review of the allegations.
The VA's inspector general is among those reviewing the facility.
Mr. Shinseki told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Tuesday that he won't resign, nor will
he dismiss the two executives. "The president invited me to take this responsibility," he said. "I
await the IG review and I have promised swift and appropriate action."
"We are not going to call for the secretary's resignation," said Dave Autry, spokesman for
Disabled American Veterans, a 1.2 million-member veterans advocacy group. "We are going to
find out what the result of the inspector general investigations are."
Few veterans service organizations have followed the American Legion in publicly demanding
Mr. Shinseki's resignation. The nation's second largest group, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has
said they don't agree with demands for Mr. Shinseki's resignation, and the Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America, with some 300,000 members, has yet to take a side on the debate while it
polls its members, said the group's CEO Paul Rieckhoff.
The American Legion hasn't backed down from its position. On Wednesday morning, the
Legion's National Executive Committee, the equivalent of a board of directors, voted
unanimously to support the call for Mr. Shinseki's resignation, said Legion spokesman John
Raughter.
"The difference between our opinion and other organizations," said Peter Gaytan, the group's
executive director, "is we have people on the ground at facilities." He said the group didn't act
rashly or too quickly, and has been talking to members for months about problems they face at
a variety of hospitals.
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Mr. Gaytan said the seeming discord among veterans groups right now indicates a healthy
discussion. "Our nation is finally discussing the problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs,"
he said.
NBCNews.com (Video): Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki 'Angry' Over VA Hospital
Deaths (7 May, 4.1M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he was outraged and surprised at allegations of
unnecessary deaths at the veterans' hospital in Phoenix, but promised a full investigation.
"I am angry," he told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski Wednesday.
Shinseki, who is a Vietnam veteran, told NBC News he understood the outrage these claims
triggered among veterans and on Capitol Hill.
Up to 40 patients may have died at the Phoenix hospital, allegedly due to delays in care.
Several hospital whistleblowers claim that in an effort to improve their performance record,
administrators ordered thousands of appointment requests be diverted to a secret unofficial list
not to be reported. If the patients died, their names would disappear.
New allegations of falsified records have also cropped up at VA hospitals in Austin, San Antonio
and Fort Collins, Colorado.
Veterans' groups have expressed their outrage, and the American Legion has even called for
Shinseki's resignation.
The secretary told NBC News the department was working to ensure nothing like what allegedly
took place in Phoenix happens again.
"I offer my condolences - to these families - for anyone who's lost a veteran, any unexpected
death in one of our facilities," Shinseki said. "What I want veterans to know, all the rest who are
watching what's going on, I want them to know that this is a good, quality healthcare system."
The White House issued a statement saying President Barack Obama "remains confident in
Secretary Shinseki's ability to lead the Department."
Shinseki told NBC News he doesn't plan to resign, and he added, "We're going to do something
about it, to get to the bottom of it and to the best of our abilities to assure it never happens
again."
Hyperlink to Above Article
NPR – All Things Considered (Audio): VA Secretary Responds To Call For His
Resignation (7 May, 3.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki responds to calls for his resignation, following reports
of Veterans dying while waiting for treatment.
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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
I'm Robert Siegel. And we begin this hour with the head of the department of Veterans Affairs,
General Eric Shinseki. I sat down with him at his office today. The secretary is at the center of a
roiling controversy over medical care for former service men and women and he's facing calls
for his resignation.
BLOCK: One issue, the VA Hospital in Phoenix where 40 patients are alleged to have died
because of delays in their care. Another point of contention, a finding that clerks at a Colorado
clinic were falsifying appointment records to cover up delays. The nation's largest veteran's
group, the American Legion, says Shinseki's leadership exhibits a pattern of bureaucratic
incompetence and today, three Republican senators piled on.
One, John Cornyn of Texas said President Obama needs a new leader to bring the
organization, in his words, out of the wilderness.
SIEGEL: Secretary Shinseki, welcome to the program.
SECRETARY ERIC SHINSEKI: Thanks again.
SIEGEL: You're department is now investigating charges that the Phoenix VA hospital in effect
cooked the books on the waiting list. The allegation is that they made it look like people were
waiting no longer than two weeks and they did it by keeping a longer real list off the record.
First, if that's true, is it fireable, is it criminal, is it immoral?
SHINSEKI: Yeah, well, I heard about this the first time following a congressional testimony, 9
April, just allegations like this get my attention. I take it seriously and my habit is to get to the
bottom of it. So that afternoon, I asked the IG to go Phoenix and...
SIEGEL: The inspector general.
SHINSEKI: The inspector general. Independent inspector general to get to the bottom of things.
And I await the outcomes. I've checked a number of times to make sure that he has what he
needs because this is a comprehensive look and, you know, if allegations are substantiated,
we're going to take swift and appropriate action.
SIEGEL: Of course, the American Legion has called for you to step down. If they are
substantiated, would that be sufficient reason for you to step down?
SHINSEKI: Well, let's see what the, you know, inspector general comes back with and substantiation. I, you know, for five years now in this job have focused on making sure veterans
are well cared for, they have access and they receive high quality healthcare and also that we
take care of their needs in terms of disability benefits.
SIEGEL: Are you at all concerned that this might be a case of demanding improvements like
reduced waiting lists without providing sufficient resources to see more patients more quickly so
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you build in, well, an incentive to get fake compliance, people trying to make the numbers look
good when they can't really perform that well?
SHINSEKI: Well, if that's what is at work here, you know, we have a set of values we live by,
first word, and that set of values is the word integrity. And we set goals for ourselves, but we
also expect that we're going to find a way to resource them to get to those goals so no shortcuts
are accepted.
SIEGEL: The department's inspector general is looking into the allegations in Phoenix at the
Veterans hospital. There've been some claims more recently that similar things were going on in
Colorado and Texas. Are those also part of the investigation and are you thinking that there
might be the rare rotten apple or perhaps a systemic problem?
SHINSEKI: Sure. You know, I became aware of the situation in Fort Collins primarily as a result
of our own inspection and the Office of Medical Inspector provided the findings. And based on
those findings, I have directed Dr. Petzel to do a system-wide look of exactly what's the status of
our scheduling program and how are we doing at implementing the policies and the standards
that we've laid out for ourselves.
SIEGEL: Last year, when you were being criticized for the VA backlogs, the then national
commander of the American Legion said this. He said, while we do not deny that problems and
inefficiencies exist, placing the blame on Secretary Shinseki is wholly unwarranted and
disingenuous. In truth, General Shinseki has been one of the veteran's communities most
effective and forceful advocates.
This is the same group that, a little bit over a year later, is now saying you should go. It sounds
like you lost a really good friend there and when you lose old friends like that, is it time to rethink
what you're doing?
SHINSEKI: Well, we've worked, I've worked very hard for five years now to establish a strong
working relationship with all the veterans' service organizations. In fact, I just had breakfast with
veteran service organizations here this week so it's a constant dialogue. I also travel and
wherever I visit our facilities, I ask to see veterans. And what veterans say counts.
And I get direct and very helpful feedback from veterans so I'm not sure what, you know, lead to
this concern on the part of the American Legion, but, you know, communication is important to
me and I'll, you know, go to work on it.
SIEGEL: Well, they have another run of complaints. They say that things can go way wrong at
the veterans' hospital. In one case, there can be an outbreak of legionnaire's disease. They
would say, due to mismanagement. I don't know. But they'd say, the head of the hospital can
get a big bonus and that people in the department are rewarded sometimes for less than
excellent or even less than competent performance.
SHINSEKI: Well, whenever we discover, you know, an incident like legion -- and by the way,
that's something we discover just as the Fort Collins incident is something we discover, we get
in there and we get to the root cause and make sure we understand what caused it. What I owe
veterans are quality and safety and healthcare and quick response to their needs in terms of
disability claims.
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And so we get to the root causes. We figure out what needs to happen all across the system. It
is a large system, 1700 points of care. And then, we, to the best of our abilities, you know, make
those decisions that never allow this to happen again.
SIEGEL: Is there any finding that could come back from your inspector general or from other
senior officials at the department about waiting times, how the books are kept, how the numbers
are presented to you, is there anything you could see that would lead you to say, oh, boy, this
happened on my watch. I've just got to leave this job right now.
SHINSEKI: Well, that's a hypothetical. What's not hypothetical, though, is that I serve at the
pleasure of the president. I signed on to do this, to help him make things better for veterans in
the near term as quickly as possible and then to put in place for the long term, those changes to
this department that will continue to help veterans well into this century.
And so as long as the president feels that I am serving him well and serving veterans well,
there's work to be done.
SIEGEL: Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Eric Shinseki, General Shinseki, thank you very much for
talking with us today.
SHINSEKI: Thank you.
Hyperlink to Above Article
NPR: Shinseki: 'Swift Action' If Problems At VA Hospital Are True (7 May, Scott Neuman,
3.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki tells NPR that he's determined to "get to the bottom" of
allegations that veterans may have died at a Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital while waiting for
care.
The accusations of extended delays in providing health care at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs
Health Care system surfaced last month. The facility reportedly kept two lists of veterans waiting
for care, one it shared with Washington and another secret list of wait times that sometimes
lasted more than a year.
"Allegations like this get my attention," Shinseki tells All Things Considered. "I take it seriously
and my habit is to get to the bottom of it.
"If allegations are substantiated, we'll take swift and appropriate action," he tells host Robert
Siegel.
Last week, Shinseki announced that three officials had been placed on leave at the facility in
Phoenix, where up to 40 patients reportedly may have died while on a wait list for care.
The VA has acknowledged that 23 patients have died as a result of delayed care in recent
years, according to The Associated Press. At one clinic at a Fort Collins, Colorado, the VA's
inspector general says officials were instructed on how to falsify appointment records. Other
problems have occurred in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia, according to the AP.
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On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the problems "an
embarrassing period for the VA." Three GOP Senators, John Cornyn of Texas, Jerry Moran of
Kansas and Richard Burr of North Carolina, have called for Shinseki to resign.
The VA's inspector general has been tasked with investigating the Phoenix hospital. Asked if
the allegations are substantiated whether he'd step down, Shinseki said "Let's see what the
inspector general comes back with."
The retired U.S. Army four-star general and former Army chief of staff says that the question of
resignation is "a hypothetical.
"But what's not a hypothetical is that I serve at the pleasure of the president," he tells NPR. "I
signed on to do this to help him make things better for veterans in the near term, as quickly as
possible, but also to put in place for the long term those changes to this department that will
continue to help veterans well into this century."
Shinseki, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to the Veterans Affairs post in 2009,
has pledged to clear up the backlog of disability claims and to end the problem of homeless
veterans, says he's confident that the numbers showing progress in those two areas are solid.
"In the case of disability claims, that's a number we can see because the claims are in the
system and we can measure decisions going out the door, so that's one I am very confident of,"
he said. On the question of homelessness, "I am confident that we have taken veterans off the
street."
The Blaze: Congress Reacts to Military Mental and Brain Health Issues (7 May,
Montgomery J. Granger, 3M online visitors/mo)
When U.S. senators from two political parties come together to introduce legislation, without
argument or hesitation, one should take notice.
In the current climate, when political opposites attract one might think money, prestige, or
influence are involved, but in the case of the bill to improve military mental health evaluations for
service members, Sen.s Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), no such
benefits await them. They appear to have only altruistic and patriotic motivation for seeing that
our heroes receive the comprehensive medical attention they need and deserve.
The Medical Evaluations Parity for Service Members Act of 2014 (S. 2231 or MEPS Act,) states
that before anyone can become enlisted or receive a commission in the armed forces of the
United States they shall receive a “mental health assessment” that will be a “baseline for any
subsequent mental health evaluations.”
This would bring mental health and “brain health” issues to parity with the physical evaluations
conducted prior to admittance into the military.
If passed, the law would also include a comprehensive physical and mental and brain health
evaluation when the service member comes off of at least 180 days of active duty or separates
from the service. This would include screening for Traumatic Brain Injury, recently found to
cause most instances of Post Traumatic Stress, which could lead to Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder. TBI is a “brain hurt” as opposed to a “mind hurt” issue that is more physiologic than
mental.
16
We are finally addressing TBI issues, the signature issues of our returning heroes. Brain injury
is not synonymous with “mental illness,” and the treatments for mental illness are often
detrimental to TBI, hence the distinction is very important.
It is estimated that over 400,000 Global War on Terror veterans suffer from TBI, and most go
undiagnosed and untreated, which leads to PTS and then possible PTSD.
Veteran and former U.S. Army Military Police non-commissioned officer, Curtis Armstrong was
given a routine exit physical which didn’t connect the dots between his symptoms of memory
loss, headaches, and thought process problems, since identified as being associated with TBI.
We can all imagine that if you’re not looking for something, and don’t know what it looks like
even if you were, you’re not going to find anything. That’s exactly what happened to Curtis, and
hundreds of thousands of his comrades.
The Resurrecting Lives Foundation, founded by Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, has been trying to gain
the attention of politicians in Washington, D.C., for several years now. They have a panel of
experts and have been advocating for the establishment of proper screening and treatment for
veterans with TBI. Moving forward, the most encouraging event to date has been the MEPS Act
introduction in the Senate.
When I inquired as to the catalyst for Sen. Portman’s introduction of the MEPS bill his staff
replied:
“[T]he MEPS Act is a response to the clear need for better monitoring and assessing of service
members’ mental health. While recent tragedies like the shootings at Fort Hood and the Navy
Yard raised the profile of these issues, the need to address it has been apparent for far too
long…Last summer, Senator Portman’s [Homeland Security and Government Affairs
Committee] subcommittee held a hearing on improving access to health care, including mental
health care, for rural veterans. To help correct this, Sen. Portman introduced an amendment to
the FY14 defense authorization bill requiring [the Department of Defense] to report on the
current status of telehealth initiatives within [the Department of Defense] and plans to integrate
them into the military health care system. Sen. Portman and Sen. Rockefeller also attempted to
introduce language requiring mental health screenings for exiting service members. This
language is now included as part of the MEPS Act.”
At the risk of seeming too giddy about these latest developments, which bring not just mental
health, but “brain health” issues of military personnel into a broader light, it has been far too long
that these issues have stayed in the shadows.
Soldiers like Curtis deserve better, and we as a country need to pay close attention to how we
can help. Encouraging our own legislators, local, state and national, to support and pass the
MEPS Act is just a start; there needs to be more resources allocated to ensuring our best and
brightest are also well cared for, especially after their deployment service has ended.
Among the several professional organizations endorsing this bill is the Academy of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation. According to Dr. Gordon, rehabilitation specialists would be
included in the evaluations and in the program of reintegration.
17
“Sen. Portman did that, inviting collaboration with the private sector – the way to solve the TBI
epidemic,” she said.
We can’t afford a legacy of forgotten warriors. We cannot endure the nightmare of neglected
veterans. We are better than that. We, each of us, have an obligation to care for those we
depended on to protect our ideals and us. Nothing less than a full accounting of every suffering
veteran should be acceptable.
The Veterans Administration can be a hero here instead of the villian. If Secretary of Veterans
Affairs retired general Eric Shinseki would pay attention to what’s going on in Congress, he
could beat legislators to the punch: He could ask for funds to implement the essence of the
MEPS Act within VA policy and practice.
Beginning with the new fiscal year in October 2014, he could seize the initiative in the war
against mental and brain health issues in the military. You could suggest this to your legislators
when you encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors and then pass the MEPS Act.
It’s important to remember that enshrining mental health evaluations for military personnel in law
would ensure implementation in a timely manner, but if the MEPS Act gets held up in committee
or is defeated, having the VA move forward with policy and practice changes through budgetary
requests for fiscal year 2015 would honor the commitment our heroes deserve and should
expect.
Military.com (Stars and Stripes): Shinseki Says He Won't Step Down (7 May, Chris Carroll,
2.8M online visitors/mo; San Francisco, CA)
WASHINGTON -- The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday that he will not
resign, but acknowledged he has work to do to rebuild the confidence of veterans.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Eric Shinseki said his department will
strive to improve its communication and work with veterans advocacy groups, but highlighted
what he said were positive changes he has made while heading the department.
"I serve at the pleasure of the president," he told the Journal. "I signed on to make some
changes, I have work to do."
On Monday, the head of one of the nation's major veterans service organizations said Shinseki
and top department leadership should step down following reports of delays and neglect that
contributed to patient deaths at several VA facilities, including in Phoenix, where a secret wait
list apparently was used to cover delays in appointments.
The VA, the VA's inspector general and the House Committee on Veterans Affairs are
conducting reviews of the Phoenix VA.
"As a result of what's under way in Phoenix, I'm very sensitive to the allegations," Shinseki told
the Journal. "I need to let the independent IG complete his investigation."
American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger said Monday the incidents "are part
of what appear to be a pattern of scandals that has infected the entire system."
18
He also called for the resignations of Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel and Under
Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey.
Some key Republican legislators had joined the call of two prominent veterans groups for the
resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
On Tuesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and Sen. Jerry
Moran, R-Kan., a member of the Veteran's affairs committee, said Shinseki should leave the
VA.
"He needs to step down," Cornyn told reporters. "The president needs to find a new leader to
lead this organization out of the wilderness, and back to providing the service our veterans
deserve."
In a Senate speech earlier in the day, Moran said Shinseki seemed unwilling or unable to fix the
department's problems.
"Veterans are waiting for action and yet the VA continues to operate in the same old
bureaucratic fashion, settling for mediocrity and continued disservice to our nation's heroes,"
Moran said. "There's a difference in wanting change and leading it to happen."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meanwhile, didn't demand Shinseki resign, but
said new leadership at VA would "be a step in the right direction."
Concerned Veterans for America on Monday joined with the Legion in calling for Shinseki to
resign.
Dellinger said it saddened him to demand the resignations, and he praised Shinseki's patriotism
and sacrifice for the country while serving in the military.
"However, his record as the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs tells a different story,"
Dellinger said in his prepared remarks. "It's a story of poor oversight and failed leadership."
Arizona Republic (Military Times): Q & A with Gen. Shinseki: VA is here to care for vets (7
May, Leo Shane III, 1.4M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is promising "swift and appropriate" punishment for any
employees who may have been involved with medical appointment delays and subsequent
coverups at VA hospitals in Arizona and Colorado.
But Shinseki urged patience in waiting for investigators to fully uncover and report on the
problems.
In an interview with Military Times on Wednesday, Shinseki also spoke about recent criticism of
his leadership style and the American Legion's demand that he and two of his top deputies
resign from their jobs.
He acknowledged frustration over the controversies, but said he has no intention of resigning
and worries that the recent headlines will discourage veterans from seeking care in the system.
19
Below is a partial transcript of the interview:
Q. How do you feel the department has responded to the Phoenix allegations?
A. Any time allegations like these come up, we're going to take a look. We take them seriously.
When we heard about these allegations, in congressional testimony, that afternoon I invited the
inspector general to go down to Phoenix and get to the bottom of things, do a complete and
thorough review and get me a response as soon as possible. So that is underway.
I also ensured he had the ability to do that, and the resources he needs. I have checked several
times, and he feels he is resourced to do that, so I await the results.
As this is happening, I just want veterans to know that VA is here to provide care for them.
That's our only mission. We intend to do that well. Care has everything to do with quality, quality
of service and quality of benefits. They've earned them, and we're going to deliver them.
I'd just like veterans to understand when they walk into one of our facilities that they're in a safe
facility. And I want employees to understand it's our responsibility to provide that high-quality
care. We have the responsibility to ensure that confidence is high.
Q. Why should veterans have confidence in the system?
A. That's why it's important to me to make sure veterans know they have high-quality care and
that VA is committed to them. They are the reason we have a mission. Across our system, there
are 1,700 points of care. Outpatient clinics, vet centers, even mobile systems that travel to the
most remote areas. So it's a complex and a large system.
Whenever an incident pops up, like in Fort Collins [Colorado] or Phoenix, we go and investigate.
We take it seriously. And we tell people what we find. And then we survey the entire system, so
if there is any place where concerns are being expressed, we find them and we take corrective
action.
In Fort Collins, it's an internal report that has surfaced this, and I've charged [VA Undersecretary
for Health Robert] Petzel to look into it, to make sure corrective actions are taken, and to make
sure no similar incidents are occurring anyplace else. That's underway.
Q. But is the department responding fast enough? Is the department moving as quick as it can
on these problems?
A. We try to move as quickly as we can in these reviews. It's not just looking at a single incident.
That takes time. It takes longer than I'd like to be able to get those findings and get corrective
actions. But sometimes these processes take time. We go back five years, 10 years to do a
thorough review.
That takes time. It takes longer than I'd like to be able to get those findings and get corrective
actions. But sometimes these processes take time.
When we find anything, we're in position to take corrective action across the system. In a large
health care system like we have — 85 million appointments a year, 25 million consults a year —
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if we're going to do the deep dive and find out what the root causes were, we have to wade
through that information. Once we have the findings we need, we take corrective actions.
Q. Why should veterans feel confident someone will be held accountable?
A. Our record is pretty clear. As a department, in the last two years, we have removed roughly
3,000 people a year who didn't meet our standards or couldn't live by our values. So we do have
tools. And we have demonstrated that, even at the executive level, we're willing to take action.
That's why I want the independent IG to provide us with findings. If any of the allegations are
substantiated, we're going to take swift and appropriate action. I don't like the allegations, and I
want to find out more.
Q. What was your personal reaction to the Phoenix allegations?
A. We didn't have any details. This came up in testimony. There apparently is a list with 40
veterans' names on it. We tried to acquire that, we were never given that list. So we asked the
IG to get involved in a formal review. He has those lists, and we're waiting for those outcomes.
Q. Do you feel like you've been a visible enough leader on this?
A. I do engage veterans. I meet with the veterans service organizations monthly. It's a direct,
no-holds-barred discussion. I travel to their conventions, where I speak to the veterans
membership. I do travel. I've been to all 50 states. When I do, I engage veterans locally. So I get
direct feedback from those veterans.
That feedback provides some grist to our discussions.
Q. But is that enough on a national level?
A. That's part of the reason we're talking today, and you'll see me doing more of this.
But I am sensitive to the IG's independent review in Phoenix, and am careful not to get out
ahead of him. He has an important responsibility, and anything I declare or if I suggest there are
outcomes is not helpful to him.
Q. Were you surprised by the American Legion's call for your resignation?
A. I spent five years working very hard to develop a relationship with the veterans service
organizations. We have together worked some major projects.
I didn't know [the Legion announcement] was going to happen. I learned a long time ago these
things aren't personal. It's a demonstration that I need to work harder here, redouble my efforts,
improve communication with all the VSOs, especially with the American Legion.
That's what I'm focused on, that's what I'll go to work on
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Q. What about their calls for the resignation of Petzel and Undersecretary of Benefits Allison
Hickey?
A. [Petzel and Hickey] are doing what I asked them to. They have expectations they're going to
deliver on those tasks. Hickey has a [disability benefits claims] backlog to end in 2015. She's
knocked a good piece of that off.
Q. How quickly will we see a response after the IG's report on Phoenix is finished?
A. It'll be quick. But we ought to wait to see what the IG report says, and what it tells us.
Q. Should you have had a better handle on what was happening in Phoenix, and elsewhere in
the VA?
A. It's tough. It's a big system, and it's demanding. But it doesn't lessen the importance of
leadership here. Whenever an allegation like this comes up, we're going to react. We're going to
thoroughly investigate, get to the bottom of things. And, if substantiated, we'll take swift and
appropriate action.
What I want veterans to know is that VA is here to care for them. VA is a good system — health
care wise, safety wise — highly comparable to any other system out there. Our oversight
reviews tell us that. I'm very comfortable in the quality of our system.
I also want our employees to understand that serving veterans is our only mission. I expect
them to provide the highest quality of care to veterans, as they have been. Veterans
themselves, in the feedback I'm provided, over 90 percent are confident and comfortable they
are receiving quality care.
That's want I want to make sure we continue, that veterans have that confidence.
MSNBC: Veterans Affairs Chief Eric Shinseki not ready to call it quits (7 May, Amanda
Sakuma, 562k online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Secretary Eric Shinseki isn’t ready to call it quits from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs just
yet.
“I serve at the pleasure of the president,” he told The Wall Street Journal when asked if he
would be resigning. “I signed on to make some changes, I have work to do.”
Resisting the mounting pressure built up by congressional Republicans and major veterans
groups to condemn Shinseki’s leadership, the Disabled American Veterans said Wednesday it
would not be calling for his resignation – at least not yet. “I am calling on VA Secretary Eric
Shinseki to answer not just the public allegations but also some fundamental questions about
the entire VA health care system,” executive director Garry Augustine said in a statement
Wednesday.
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The department is under intense scrutiny after whistleblowers alleged that as many as 40
veterans died while waiting for primary health care at the VA hospital system in Phoenix. The
opponents charge that officials secretly kept two sets of books – one with falsified appointment
lists that dramatically downplayed patient wait times, while another kept track of the real wait
times.
The VA’s inspector general (IG) and the House Committee on Veterans Affairs are already
investigating the claims. Shinseki told The Wall Street Journal that he is “sensitive to the
allegations” and that he will wait for the IG to complete the investigation before moving forward.
White House officials and some top leaders in Congress warn the calls for Shinseki’s
resignation may be premature.
“The president remains confident in Secretary Shinseki’s ability to lead the department and take
appropriate action,” Carney reiterated during a White House briefing Tuesday. Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid told reporters Shinseki “is a fine man, a dedicated patriot.”
On Monday, the American Legion, with more than 2.4 million members strong in 1,400 posts
around the world, became the first major group to call for Shinseki to step down. Joining it was
the group Concerned Veterans for America and a handful of Republican lawmakers already
dissatisfied with how the department is supporting America’s veterans.
“It’s not something we do lightly. But we do so today because it is our responsibility as advocate
for the men and women who have worn this nation’s uniform,” said Daniel M. Dellinger, national
commander of the American Legion.
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Reid defends VA chief against calls for his resignation (6
May, Steve Terreault, 452k online visitors/mo; Las Vegas, NV)
WASHINGTON – The nation’s largest veterans organization and senior Republican senators
are calling for the resignation of Gen. Eric Shinseki as head of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, prompted by reports of lagging services and blockbuster allegations about veteran
deaths in Phoenix.
But Shinseki still enjoys the support of Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada
who says the Cabinet member should be commended and not criticized as he attempts to lead
an agency beset by challenges brought on by the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Reid said Shinseki was a “fine man” who was handed a “tremendous burden” at the VA, an
agency charged with providing health care and benefits for veterans, including millions returning
from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries and post-traumatic stress disorders.
The American Legion, the largest veterans group, on Monday called for Shinseki to step down
following allegations that 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the veterans hospital in
Phoenix. Several doctors have said some of the veterans were put on a secret list created by
the hospital to cover up the long wait times to schedule appointments.
VA officials say a preliminary investigation failed to turn up evidence of a secret list, while the
matter is being investigated by the agency’s Office of Inspector General.
23
The House Committee on Veterans Affairs said Monday it has received similar reports that a VA
outpatient clinic in Fort Collins, Colo., had manipulated patient schedules.
An inspector general’s report about the VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas last week said
the agency struggled to keep pace with patient demand for emergency room care. That report
was prompted by stories in the Las Vegas Review-Journal about a blind elderly patient suffering
from stomach pain who waited almost five hours to see a doctor and was not checked
periodically as required by hospital procedure.
“The issue that came up in Phoenix. Those are allegations and there will be a complete
investigation of what has gone on,” Reid said. “Whether that is substantiated or not, I don’t
know, but it certainly doesn’t call for the general to resign.”
The Nevada senator added some of the VA’s burden was generated by Congress ordering the
agency to the revamp its record keeping.
“So (Shinseki) is trying to do all this,” Reid said. “He is a fine man and a dedicated patriot to our
country.”
The reports of problems at VA medical facilities come on top of the VA’s continuing struggle to
reduce a disability claims backlog that stood at 686,861 as of this week, including 403,761
outstanding more than 125 days. The agency’s regional office in Reno was found to be the
slowest to process claims, at 425 days according to a report issued in March by Sen. Dean
Heller, R-Nev., and other members of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said Tuesday he was unhappy with Shinseki’s response to VA
problems in Nevada but stopped just short of calling for his resignation.
“In February, Secretary Shinseki promised me that changes would be made in Nevada,” Heller
said in a statement, referring to a management shakeup at the Reno regional office.
“I’m disappointed that several months have passed, and still nothing has changed,” Heller said.
“Someone needs to be held accountable. If changes aren’t going to be made at the local level to
address the problems plaguing the VA system in Nevada, then we should look for changes at
the top.”
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said while the allegations surrounding the Phoenix VA hospital are
disturbing, “we must wait for the IG investigation findings before we can determine the best
course of action.”
Likewise, Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said he was reserving judgment.
Shinseki “inherited a broken bureaucracy that was woefully unprepared to handle the volume
and complexity of claims we are seeing,” Heck said. “My concern is that it it is not necessarily a
change in leadership that is going to fix the issue, it is changing the bureaucracy.”
Heck noted a VA management bill making its way through Congress would make it easier for
the secretary to fire and discipline senior executives for performance. Now, Heck said, “his
hands are tied.”
Other Republicans said Tuesday it is time for Shinseki to go.
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“It certainly has been an embarrassing period for the VA,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the
Senate Republican leader who said the agency has yet to break ground on a hospital in
Louisville, Ky., that was announced eight years, ago.
“It’s been a stunning period of dysfunction.” he said. “The complaints have mounted. All of us
are hearing them. It’s really a sad and tragic story, and obviously a change in leadership might
be a step in the right direction.”
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., added calls for Shinseki to resign.
Shinseki has not commented on the calls for his resignation. White House press secretary Jay
Carney said Tuesday President Barack Obama “remains confident” in the VA secretary.
“We must ensure that our nation’s veterans get the benefits and the services that they deserve
and they have earned,” Carney said. “The president remains confident in Secretary Shinseki’s
ability to lead the department and to take appropriate action based on the IG’s findings.”
A statement issued by the VA on Monday said the agency “takes any allegations about patient
care or employee misconduct very seriously. If the VA Office of Inspector General’s
investigation substantiates allegations of employee misconduct, swift and appropriate action will
be taken. Veterans deserve to have full faith in their VA care.
“Under the leadership of Secretary Shinseki and his team, VA has made strong progress in
recent years to better serve veterans both now and in the future,” the statement said. “The
secretary knows there is more work to do.”
HotAir.com: Two more VA offices falsifying records to hide long wait times,
whistleblowers allege (7 May Ed Morrissey, 475k online visitors/mo)
The scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs widened this morning to include two more
offices, both in Texas, accused of falsifying records to hide horrendous wait times for medical
treatment. Jeremy Schwartz at the Austin American-Statesman reports that a whistleblower
within the VA told investigators that he and other employees were verbally ordered to falsely
register patient requests so that it appeared that they had to wait very little time for treatment. In
fact, the wait times for veterans went to three months in Austin and San Antonio:
A Department of Veterans Affairs scheduling clerk has accused VA officials in Austin and San
Antonio of manipulating medical appointment data in an attempt to hide long wait times to see
doctors and psychiatrists, the American-Statesman has learned.
In communications with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative body that
protects government whistleblowers, the 40-year-old VA employee said he and others were
“verbally directed by lead clerks, supervisors, and during training” to ensure that wait times at
the Austin VA Outpatient Clinic and the North Central Federal Clinic in San Antonio were “as
close to zero days as possible.”
The medical support assistant, who is seeking whistleblower protection and has been advised to
remain anonymous by federal investigators, said he and other clerks achieved that by falsely
logging patients’ desired appointment dates to sync with appointment openings. That made it
25
appear there was little to no wait time, and ideally less than the department’s goal of 14 days. In
reality, the clerk said, wait times for appointments could be as long as three months.
The claims echo recent allegations that VA officials in Arizona and Colorado similarly
manipulated wait time data or maintained secret lists to obscure lengthy wait times for medical
care. Three top administrators at the VA medical center in Phoenix have since been put on
leave and the VA’s inspector general is conducting an investigation into an alleged secret wait
list at the facility. A retired doctor at the Phoenix facility told CNN that more than 40 veterans
there died while waiting for an appointment.
That brings the total number of offices to four — so far. Given the geographic dispersal of these
locations, it’s almost a sure bet that these aren’t the only VA offices that have been told to falsify
records. It’s also almost a sure bet given the distribution of incidents that the direction for this
practice isn’t just coincidentally happening on a local level, but is coming from up above the
office level, and above the regional control level.
Two Republican Senators had already demanded the resignation of CA Secretary Eric Shinseki
over the first revelation about the Phoenix office:
Two Senate Republicans have called on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in
the wake of reports that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix Veterans
Affairs Health Care system , which worked to cover up the long wait times by creating a secret
waiting list an later destroying the evidence.
The two senators, Republicans John Cornyn of Texas and Jerry Moran of Kansas, echoed the
call from two major veterans groups. The American Legion, which is the nation’s largest
veterans group, and Concerned Veterans for America, have both said Shinseki should step
down.
“The president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness, and
back to providing the service that our veterans deserve,” Cornyn told reporters Tuesday. He
also called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to investigate the issue with
emergency committee hearings.
Harry Reid made the blunder of getting ahead of the story by defending Shinseki:
Shinseki wasn’t “fired” for his advice on the Iraq War; his retirement had already been
announced prior to that, although he was pointedly not asked to stick around. Reid talks about
the burden that Congress imposed on Shinseki by demanding better record-keeping at the VA,
but he’s been VA Secretary since January 2009, more than five years ago. Shinseki is
responsible for the issues of access and wait times, and now it appears that multiple offices
have been told to falsify records to comply with Congress’ mandate on wait times. If Shinseki’s
not responsible for the VA’s performance and lack thereof after 5-plus years, exactly who is?
So far, Shinseki isn’t going away:
The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday he won’t resign, but will work to
rebuild confidence after the nation’s largest veterans organization called for him to step down
Monday amid allegations of inadequate treatment of patients at some VA facilities.
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In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Eric Shinseki said his department will
strive to improve its communication and collaborate with veterans-advocacy groups. The retired
Army general who took over the agency in 2009, also highlighted what he said were positive
changes during his tenure.
“I serve at the pleasure of the president,” he said when asked if he would be resigning. “I signed
on to make some changes, I have work to do.”
We’ll see. It might have been easier to hold out when the corruption involved just one field
office. With a pattern emerging and with Shinseki’s long tenure, though, his position will become
more and more untenable. Reid and Barack Obama had better start thinking about a
replacement soon, preferably before more whistleblowers emerge to make both look like even
bigger fools.
Update: Investors Business Daily predicts we’ll see much the same kind of corruption with
ObamaCare:
ObamaCare simply builds on this failed model — expanding access to “free” or “low cost” care
while rationing access. Most blatantly, it does this by expanding Medicaid. But patients in many
private ObamaCare plans have found that a multitude of doctors and hospitals are now off
limits.
The so-called “Accountable Care Organizations” ObamaCare forces into existence are little
more than newfangled HMOs, which long ago developed a reputation for rewarding doctors who
denied patient care.
Then there’s the new Independent Payment Advisory Board for Medicare. While officially
banned from rationing care, the board can achieve the same end by setting payment rates so
low that seniors will have trouble finding doctors who’ll see them.
As ObamaCare’s tentacles reach further into the nation’s health care system, so too will come
schemes to ration care, along with the inevitable political pressure to cover it all up.
Austin American-Statesman: Texas whistleblower speaks to VA investigators on vet wait
time claims (7 May, Jeremy Schwartz, 294k online visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
A day after accusing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials in Texas of an elaborate
scheme to manipulate wait time data at medical facilities, a government whistleblower said he
was contacted by VA investigators Wednesday about his allegations, which were first revealed
by the American-Statesman.
Previous internal VA investigations have turned up evidence of a similar attempt to falsify
appointment records at a VA clinic in Fort Collins, Colo.
The VA employee told the Statesman that he and other scheduling clerks in Austin, San Antonio
and Waco were directed by supervisors to hide true wait times at clinics by inputting false
records into the VA’s scheduling system. The employee, who didn’t wish to be identified until he
spoke with investigators, is seeking federal protection from any potential retaliation.
In communications with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which provides whistleblower
protection to federal employees, the employee said he was directed to change appointment
records as recently as April 22 at the North Central Federal Clinic in San Antonio. The clerk said
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he was told to change records indicating a 29-day wait for an appointment to make it appear
that the wait time fell within the VA’s goal of 14 days.
The whistleblower, a disabled veteran who left the Army in 2011, worked at the Austin VA
Outpatient Clinic from December 2012 to December 2013 and said he and other clerks were
routinely instructed to falsely log requested appointments to make wait times appear as small as
possible.
In 2012, a scheduling clerk in New Hampshire told a Senate subcommittee that the practice
there was linked to higher bonuses for VA executives, which were based on performance goals
that included wait times.
Last month, doctors at the Phoenix, Ariz., VA medical center detailed a secret wait list meant to
obscure the hospital’s substantial backlog of patients. One former doctor claimed more than 40
patients died while awaiting appointments. The U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs
announced Wednesday it is seeking to subpoena evidence related to destruction of documents
in Phoenix that might be related to a secret wait list.
“It’s the same old, same old,” said Elridge Nelson, service officer for the Austin chapter of
Disabled American Veterans. “The VA needs to step up and do what needs to be done for us
vets.”
While Nelson said his personal wait times for appointments at the Austin clinic haven’t been
excessive, other local veterans told of longer waits Wednesday.
Bastrop resident J.D. Wallace, who retired from the Marines in 2012, said he sought an
appointment in Austin with his primary care doctor in early January and was given an
appointment for April 15. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Not for a simple follow-up.”
Texas officials continued to blast the VA over the allegations Wednesday with both U.S. Sen.
John Cornyn and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst calling for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.
“It repulses me, as an American, a Texan, and as a proud former Air Force officer, to learn that
allegations about the VA, similar to what were discovered last week in Phoenix, have surfaced
in Austin and San Antonio,” Dewhurst said in a statement. “I hope there is speedy resolution to
these claims, punishment for wrongdoers, and significant changes to procedures.”
On the floor of the U.S. Senate, Cornyn entered the American-Statesman story into the
Congressional Record and repeated his call for an investigation into the incident. “Scandals like
this confirm the VA lacks safeguards against official abuses and also lacks accountability,” he
said.
Central Texas VA officials haven’t directly addressed the latest allegations, but told the
Statesman this week that scheduling practices would be reviewed and “refresher training”
provided to clerks.
The Texas whistleblower said that such training was provided Wednesday in San Antonio.
Austin American-Statesman: VA employee: Wait list data was manipulated in Austin, San
Antonio (6 May, Jeremy Schwartz, 294k online visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
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A Department of Veterans Affairs scheduling clerk has accused VA officials in Austin and San
Antonio of manipulating medical appointment data in an attempt to hide long wait times to see
doctors and psychiatrists, the American-Statesman has learned.
In communications with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative body that
protects government whistleblowers, the 40-year-old VA employee said he and others were
“verbally directed by lead clerks, supervisors, and during training” to ensure that wait times at
the Austin VA Outpatient Clinic and the North Central Federal Clinic in San Antonio were “as
close to zero days as possible.”
The medical support assistant, who is seeking whistleblower protection and has been advised to
remain anonymous by federal investigators, said he and other clerks achieved that by falsely
logging patients’ desired appointment dates to sync with appointment openings. That made it
appear there was little to no wait time, and ideally less than the department’s goal of 14 days. In
reality, the clerk said, wait times for appointments could be as long as three months.
The claims echo recent allegations that VA officials in Arizona and Colorado similarly
manipulated wait time data or maintained secret lists to obscure lengthy wait times for medical
care. Three top administrators at the VA medical center in Phoenix have since been put on
leave and the VA’s inspector general is conducting an investigation into an alleged secret wait
list at the facility. A retired doctor at the Phoenix facility told CNN that more than 40 veterans
there died while waiting for an appointment.
This week, the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans service organization, called for
the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, citing several issues, including wait times for
medical care.
When asked to respond to the allegations, local VA officials said in a statement they would
review their scheduling practices, but didn’t directly address the claims.
“In light of the charges recently made against the Phoenix VA, (director of the Central Texas
Veterans Health Care System Sallie) Houser-Hanfelder has made it clear she does not endorse
hidden lists of any kind,” the statement reads. “To ensure the integrity of the health care system,
she has directed each service chief to certify they have reviewed each of their sections and
scheduling practices to ensure VA scheduling policies are being followed. All staff who schedule
appointments have also been instructed to have refresher training to make sure policies are
clear and being followed accurately.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called for emergency hearings after learning of the Texas
allegations.
“This is yet another deeply troubling account, and I’m afraid we have not heard the last of gross
mismanagement within the VA and deception by VA bureaucrats,” Cornyn said in a statement.
“It is time for urgent steps to be taken that match the gravity of this situation.”
He also called for Shinseki to step down.
“It is absolutely disgusting to think that another VA facility would be cooking the books like this,
especially in our own community. The House of Representatives is digging into these
allegations against the VA from every direction possible and we will get to the bottom of this,”
said U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock.
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The Texas clerk said he saw the scheduling manipulation when he worked at the Austin VA
Outpatient Clinic from December 2012 to December 2013 and when he transferred to the San
Antonio clinic, where he still works. He said he also saw similar maneuvers at the Waco medical
center earlier in 2012.
“If you had any appointments showing over a 14-day waiting period you were given a report the
next day to fix it immediately,” said the clerk, a disabled veteran who served in the Army from
2002 to 2011. Fixing it meant recording the requested appointment date closer to the available
opening, he added.
The clerk said that scheduling clerks in Austin were also instructed specifically not to use a VA
tool called the Electronic Waiting List, which is designed to help veterans waiting for
appointments get slots created when other veterans cancel their appointments.
“The failure to use (the electronic waiting list) may also pose a substantial and specific danger to
public health, because patients who should be included on the EWL are not receiving more
timely appointments when they become available,” according to the clerk’s communications with
the Office of Special Counsel.
While the VA’s massive backlogs of disability benefits claims have garnered much attention in
recent years, investigators have also increasingly discovered problems with access to VA
medical care.
In 2012, the VA inspector general found that the department had vastly overcounted how many
veterans were waiting 14 days or less for a mental health evaluation. While the VA claimed a 95
percent rate in meeting the two-week target, investigators found that the real number was 49
percent, with the remaining 51 percent of patients waiting about 50 days for an evaluation.
That same year, a scheduling clerk at a VA medical center in New Hampshire told a Senate
committee that staffers there were instructed to obscure wait times for mental health help by
using a method similar to that described by the Texas clerk.
“The overriding objective at our facility from top management on down was to meet our
numbers,” Nick Tolentino told the committee. “Performance measures are well intended, but are
linked to executive pay and bonuses and as a result create incentive to find loopholes that allow
facilities to meet its numbers without actually providing services.”
Last week, the House voted to ban bonuses for VA executives, a move opposed by VA
leadership. Shinseki has defended the bonus system, saying it is necessary to “attract and
retain the best leaders.”
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which is also
investigating delays in VA medical care, blasted the VA on Tuesday for not taking better
advantage of its authority to send patients who are waiting months for appointments to private
medical providers.
“Whether we’re talking about allegations of secret lists, data manipulation or actual lists of
interminable waits, the question VA leaders must answer is ‘Why isn’t the department using the
tools it has been given – fee-based care being one of them – to ensure veterans receive timely
medical care?’” he said.
30
Military Times: Senator backs alternative treatments for vets' pain (7 May, Patricia Kime,
233k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his position as chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, is pressing for expanded veterans’ access to treatments such as acupuncture,
yoga, meditation and animal-assisted therapy for chronic pain.
In an April 30 hearing on overmedication at the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments,
Sanders, a longtime admirer of complementary and alternative medical treatments, said VA
must do more to reduce its doctors’ reliance on prescriptions to treat pain.
“For many veterans, chronic pain is a part of their daily life ... options for managing chronic pain
are paramount to improving their quality of life,” Sanders said.
According to Pentagon data, about a quarter of active-duty personnel received a prescription for
an opiate-based painkiller in 2013.
At VA, about half of patients with chronic pain are prescribed opioids such as OxyContin,
Vicodin and Percocet.
In the past five years, both VA and DoD have moved to reduce the number of potentially
addictive prescriptions. A DoD task force in 2010 released a comprehensive pain management
plan for physicians, and the Pentagon has cut the percentage of active-duty troops receiving
opiates from 26 percent in 2011 to 24 percent last year.
And VA in April launched a departmentwide Opioid Safety Initiative focused on patient
education, prescription monitoring and emphasis on complementary and alternative practices.
According to VA, the program already is seeing success, reducing the number of VA patients
receiving opiates in the past 18 months by 50,000, said VA Undersecretary for Health Dr.
Robert Petzel.
The long-term use of highly addictive opioid pain medications can lead to chronic abuse,
overdose and accidental death if taken in conjunction with other medications.
In the hearing, Sanders said alternatives should be considered before prescribing these drugs.
The program on which VA’s OSI effort is modeled uses a comprehensive approach that
includes acupuncture, relaxation, meditation, tai chi and aromatherapy along with traditional
psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., cited the case of a veteran prescribed medication for chronic pain
because it was inexpensive and expedient.
“Is this the ‘veteran-centric’ care we constantly hear VA describing? When it comes to the care
we are providing to those who have sacrificed so much ... we can’t afford to get it wrong,” Burr
said.
Sanders introduced legislation earlier this year that would require VA to expand access to
alternative treatments. The bill failed on a procedural vote, but Sanders has pledged to try again
this year.
31
Star-Banner: VA nursing home a perfect fit here (7 May, 206k online visitors/mo; Ocala, FL)
North Central Florida, especially Marion County, needs a Veterans Administration nursing
home. With an aging population of more than 40,000 veterans in the community, and an
estimated 600,000 more living in surrounding counties, the numbers add up to a quantifiable
need for such a facility.
So it was heartening to hear U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent announce last week that Marion County is
currently No. 1 on the VA's short list of Florida sites for a new VA nursing home. It was, frankly,
a surprise — since the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs had conducted a needs
assessment of its own and ranked Marion County No. 3, behind Lee and Collier counties in
Southwest Florida and Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk counties in the Tampa Bay region.
Nonetheless, the VA ranking is clearly a boost and a golden opportunity for Marion County,
which already is home to the Florida Department of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
But work, a lot of work, remains to be done before any sort of victory can be claimed.
While the VA is the principal funding and, ultimately, operating agency, the state of Florida is
also contributing funding and will influence heavily the final site selection. It will be up to our
community to not only provide a strong incentive package, likely including land and preconstruction financial support, but vocal support through letters, emails and phone calls to state
officials.
While the needs assessment is based on population and need, North Central Florida is the only
region in Florida that has no VA nursing home. Existing nursing homes are located in Port
Charlotte, Panama City, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Land O'Lakes and Pemberoke Pines.
Nugent's advocacy for the 120-bed, $23 million VA nursing facility here is important, since he
serves on the House Armed Services Committee. But that will not be enough, the congressman
told the Star-Banner.
The best way to voice your support is to contact the FDVA. We encourage local residents,
veterans groups and civic leaders to reach out to FDVA Executive Director Mike Prendergast at
ExDir@fdva.state.fl.us. Gov. Rick Scott will also have input on the decision, and he can be
emailed at http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor/ or phoned at 850-4887146.
Locally, efforts are quietly in the works to provide an incentive package to the VA and FDVA.
The Marion County Commission has been in talks with On Top of the World developer Ken
Colen about donating 20 acres of land near the sprawling retirement community and the
veteran-rich State Road 200 corridor, and it has approved $100,000 for survey work to ensure
the site is suitable.
The county must submit its proposal to the FDVA by next Wednesday. Please voice your
support for this project, through the county, the FDVA or the governor. Marion County is a proud
veterans community, an award-winning regional health care center and the hub of North Central
Florida. A VA nursing home is a perfect fit for our community that's genuinely needed.
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Roll Call (WGBD Blog): Senator on Veterans Affairs Allegations: ‘Just Because CNN Says
Something, Doesn’t Always Make It The Case’ (Video) (7 May, JM Rieger, 202k online
visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
During Senate floor debate Wednesday over authorizing funds for the Department of Veterans
Affairs in 18 states, the Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders criticized
members for jumping to conclusions over alleged misconduct at VA facilities, including in
Phoenix, Ariz., which has received extensive media attention following a CNN report last week.
“I am not a lawyer, but I did learn enough in school to know that you don’t find somebody guilty
without assessing the evidence,” the Vermont Independent said. “And frankly, just because
CNN says something, doesn’t always make it the case.”
Some Senate Republicans, including Minority Whip John Cornyn, called for Veterans Affairs
Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign on Tuesday, while others, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
have refused to call for Shinseki’s ouster until hearings are held and the Inspector General’s
report is complete.
Sanders called the allegations very serious, and said he would hold hearings on the issue.
“What we need is a serious, independent investigation in the very serious allegations about
Phoenix and any other facility within the VA, and what I have said is that I will hold hearings
immediately — more than one hearing if necessary — to get to the truth of the matter regarding
the VA situation in Phoenix.”
Houston Community Newspapers: Lt. Governor Dewhurst addresses Veterans Affairs
claims (8 May, 170k online visitors/mo; Houston, TX)
Today, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst responded to claims that the Department of Veterans
Affairs has been manipulating appointment data in an attempt to conceal wait times in Austin
and San Antonio:
“It repulses me, as an American, a Texan, and as a proud former Air Force officer, to learn that
allegations about the VA, similar to what were discovered last week in Phoenix, have surfaced
in Austin and San Antonio,” said Dewhurst. “I sincerely believe that government has no more
sacred duty than ensuring the care of those men and women who defend our Constitution
through serving in the military. That is why I led the charge to create the State Strike Force with
teams devoted to reviewing veterans’ disability claims. We will continue to work closely with
State Strike Force Teams to ensure that Texas Veterans are receiving the timely care they
deserve despite the blatant disrespect the VA has shown toward those who have sacrificed
everything for us.”
In 2012, Lt. Governor Dewhurst joined Governor Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus in
directing the Texas Veterans Commission to launch the State Strike Force and the Fully
Developed Claims Teams Initiative to help reduce the backlog of pending veterans’ claims.
These combined efforts helped reduce the backlog of federal disability claims in Texas from a
peak of more than 68,000 backlogged claims to less than 27,000 claims, resulting in
approximately $78 million in retroactive payments and $27 million in new monthly awards to
Texas Veterans and their families.
33
“I hope there is speedy resolution to these claims, punishment for wrongdoers, and significant
changes to procedures, starting with the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki,” concluded
Dewhurst. “There has been a lack of urgency toward the needs of our veterans at the federal
level, and that must change as soon as possible for the sake of our veterans and their families.”
Stars and Stripes (Beaver County Pa. Times): Family of Marine Corps vet sues Pittsburgh
VA for wrongful death (7 May, Kristen Doerschner, 159k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
PITTSBURGH — The family of an Aliquippa, Pa., veteran who died while being treated for lung
cancer and after contracting Legionnaire’s disease filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the
Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
Clint Compston filed the lawsuit in federal court Monday on behalf of his father, Clark E.
Compston, a Marine Corps veteran who died Nov. 14, 2011, at age 74.
According to the lawsuit, Clark Compston suffered from small cell lung cancer and was being
treated at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Pittsburgh when he was exposed to Legionnaire’s
disease on or about Sept. 28, 2011.
The suit claims that despite showing symptoms of the disease, the hospital delayed testing
Compston for days, even though VA personnel knew Legionnaire’s was spreading through the
facility.
On Oct. 27, 2011, Compston declined further chemotherapy after his “bad experience with
Legionnaire’s disease” and was transferred to a palliative care unit, where he died several
weeks later.
The suit says the family is seeking funeral expenses, medical and hospital expenses and other
damages.
KLAS-TV (Video): S. Nevada VA hospital making efforts to improve care (7 May, 121k
online visitors/mo; Las Vegas, NV)
LAS VEGAS -- The secretary for the United States Veteran Affairs system says he is not
stepping down.
Calls for his resignation came after reports that veteran patients died on waiting lists in Phoenix.
Nationally, the Veterans Affairs system is under scrutiny, and the VA system here in southern
Nevada has had its own controversies.
8 News NOW walked through two different VA facilities and saw a lot of veterans happy with the
services they are getting. However, there are many patients who do have complaints, and the
hospital has even been investigated by the inspector general.
In southern Nevada, the demand for patient care is growing faster than anywhere else.
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"It is the largest integrated health care delivery system in the world," Chief of Staff Dr. Ramu
Komanduri said.
Dr. Komanduri admits since the VA hospital opened in August 2012 there have been growing
pains. A report released last week by the inspector general shows wait times for the emergency
room are too long. One veteran sat for nearly five hours before seeing a doctor.
"We are aggressively addressing that so veterans get in quicker and get their healthcare in a
timely manner," Komanduri said.
Komanduri says the hospital is working on cutting down wait times by expanding the emergency
department and adding 14 beds. In the meantime, he says the VA system is supplying veterans
with some of the best traditional and even non-traditional kinds of treatment.
Artis August is an army veteran and was skeptical of meditation at first.
"She was talking to me about hums, and vibrations, and lights, and sounds," August said.
He had a heart attack about a year ago and needed a triple bypass. August isn't sure how to
explain it, but he says he is already feeling better.
"I just feel it inside of me, it is something I feel," August said.
Dr. Komanduri says in some areas veterans are getting better care than most civilians, but
they're working to improve the areas where they lag. There have also been reports about
veterans in southern Nevada forced to wait months before seeing specialty physicians.
Komanduri says in some cases veterans have had longer than normal waits but he says most
are around the same wait as patients outside the VA system would have.
"Our focus is on how do we improve the system and we know we need more timely care," he
said.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KOLD-TV (Video): Nearly a dozen Phoenix-area veterans switch to Tucson VA (7 May,
Barbara Grijalva, 114k online visitors/mo; Tucson, AZ)
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) Problems at the Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix could have veterans turning to the
VA in Tucson for help.
As many as 40 patients in Phoenix may have died because of delays in their care. Investigators
are still looking into those claims.
In the meantime, a spokesman for the Tucson-based Southern Arizona VA Health Care System
said the local VA has been getting inquiries from Phoenix-area veterans wanting to switch to
Tucson.
Once a veteran is in the VA system he or she can go to any VA facility for care.
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Southern Arizona VA Health Care System Public Affairs Officer Steve Sample said, in the last
week, the local VA has received about a dozen inquiries from Phoenix-area veterans asking to
establish primary care appointments in Tucson.
Since Tucson is a destination for tourists and winter visitors, the Southern Arizona VA says it's
used to dealing with variations in the number of patients needing care.
"The winter visitors-- we get quite a bit of an up-tick in the patients that we have to deal with.
Even the Gem and Mineral Show, we get additional patients that we deal with and that's not
unlike any of the other facilities, health care systems, within the city of Tucson," Sample said.
He said the Southern Arizona VA has ways to adjust if the demand for care increases.
"We use non-VA care, sending care out to the local community, if need be. We also contract for
other physicians to come in and use those, along with using nurse pracs (practitioners) and
physician assistants to help meet the increased demand," Sample said.
He said, even if there is a big influx of patients from Phoenix, he doesn't expect it to affect the
56,000 veterans who use the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.
He said the VA in Tucson typically can meet an enrolled veteran's need for routine care in less
than two days.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KPNX (Video): Arizona Nightly News (7 May, 48k broadcast viewers; Phoenix, AZ)
This 2:13 minute video features comments from Sec. Eric Shinseki’s interview with Military
Times. It also mentions Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s call for all VA facilities to review appointment
scheduling practices.
Hyperlink to Above Article
KTBC-TV (Video): Austin VA caught up in waiting list scandal (7 May, 36k online
visitors/mo; Austin, TX)
Texas Senator John Cornyn is calling for congressional hearings into allegations that waiting
lists are being manipulated at VA clinics.
The new outpatient facility here in Austin may be part of that review. A former staff member is
quoted in the Austin American Statesman accusing supervisors of making those who schedule
appointments for veterans to conceal the long waits. Accusations of falsifying scheduling data
so managers can get bonus pay also target VA facilities in San Antonio, Phoenix and in
Colorado. Legislation to prohibit bonuses for VA administrators is currently moving through
Congress.
Senator Cornyn (R) Texas, Wednesday morning, from the Senate Floor, called for the Secretary
for Veterans Affairs to resign.
"Scandals like these confirm the VA lacks the safeguards against official abuses and it also
lacks accountability,” said Senator Cornyn.
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The Austin VA Outpatient Clinic is part of the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System.
Before the Austin allegations were made public, CTVHCS Director Sallie Houser-Hanfelder,
said the use of hidden lists were not acceptable. According to a statement sent to FOX7,
Houser-Hanfelder has ordered a review of scheduling practices. Staff members who make
appointments are required to go through refresher training.
Veterans like former U.S. Marine Gus Pena have been complaining about the long waits to get
medical treatment at the VA. The new accusations, while not surprising, are disappointing,
according to Pena.
"It makes me very angry that our government is not taking care of us veterans when we gave
our lives, volunteered for the defense of our country and other country's freedom. It makes me
very angry as a veteran."
Hyperlink to Above Article
The Athens News: For victims of PTSD, Athens VA clinic offers help (7 May, Fred Kight,
18k online visitors/mo; Athens, OH)
It happens all the time—someone suffering from nightmares, flashbacks or some other kind of
mental health problem walks into the Veterans Affairs clinic in Athens looking for help, and it's
theirs for the asking.
Reluctant at first to seek assistance, Vietnam vet Joel Laufman reached out and is glad he did.
He calls the clinic "a Godsend."
In 2013, the clinic had 3,964 "mental-health visits," according to Manager Kyle McDaniels. The
number is 1,353 so far this year.
"There are many veterans who present to the clinic for mental-health treatment, for a variety of
reasons," said Dr. Stephen Owens.
Owens is a psychologist and one of three mental-health professionals on staff at the Athens
CBOC (Community Based Outpatient Clinic.)
"Some veterans self-refer, many are referred from other health professionals, and others
schedule appointments at the urging of family and friends," said Owens.
Often the problem is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought PTSD among military personnel to the
public's attention. "Every week there are new people being evaluated for PTSD here in Athens,"
said Owens.
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While it's not exclusively a soldier's injury, PTSD is most commonly associated with military
personnel. It's also known as shell shock or combat stress or fatique.
Hundreds of thousands of military veterans have been in combat, and many have been shot at,
seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are the types of events that can
lead to PTSD.
For some vets, PTSD warning signs come quickly after deployment. Others may not have
problems until years later.
Nightmares and flashbacks are two of the symptoms. Feeling nervous in crowds and an inability
to concentrate are others. "Some individuals with PTSD have co-occurring mood problems or
substance problems," Owens said.
But PTSD is treatable. Many specialists and services are available now that were not available
years ago when little was known about the injury. There are effective medication and therapy
treatments for PTSD.
But to get them, the patient has to take that first step - to meet with a mental-health professional
for an evaluation. "New patient appointments for both psychiatry and psychology are available
within two weeks, and often sooner," said Owens, who stressed that treatment is strictly
confidential.
One of the most effective treatments for PTSD is Cognitive Processing Therapy, according to
Dr. Owens, and Laufman agreed. He is one of the doctor's patients and a regular at the clinic.
Laufman, 65, who lives near Athens, is a retired Alexander High School teacher. He fought in
Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 during the height of the war, and was "on the (front) line for 10
months."
"As sometimes happens when a sense of purpose is lost," Laufman explained, his PTSD got
worse after leaving the classroom a couple years ago.
He was often angry and sometimes violent. "I thought I was going nuts," he said.
Lately, Laufman has been seeing Owens every week for "individual therapy." Laufman also
attends group therapy with about 15 other Vietnam veterans.
In addition to Cognitive Processing Therapy, Owens practices Prolonged Exposure Therapy.
"Both of these treatments are short-term (about three months) but intensive (weekly
appointments)," explained Owens.
Typically, a veteran will complete an initial assessment that may take one or two sessions.
"Next, the veteran is educated about treatment options that include evidence-based
psychotherapies, pharmacotherapy, or some individualized treatment plan," said Owens.
In addition to psychiatry and psychology, other mental health services are offered at the Athens
clinic. These include mental-health social work, home-based primary-care social work and
substance-abuse treatment program group.
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Some of the services are through Video Tele-Health. "Video Tele-Health refers to a patient onsite at the Athens CBOC video conferencing with a provider at another location, or vice-versa,"
according to local VA Clinic manager McDaniels.
If outpatient treatment is not enough for a vet with PTSD, there are numerous residential
programs. "The closest PTSD residential program is at Ft. Thomas in the Cincinnati area," said
Owens.
Another residential program that some local veterans have utilized is offered at the Cleveland
VA. That's designed for patients struggling with both PTSD and substance-abuse problems.
Also, the Chillicothe VA Medical Center has acute psychiatry beds for crisis intervention.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts almost 31 percent of
Vietnam veterans and as many as 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans. The number
is 11 percent for the war in Afghanistan and 20 percent for the Iraqi War.
In the last five years, the VA has been active in training mental-health providers in evidencebased treatments for PTSD, according to Owens. "In many ways the current resources for
PTSD treatment for Athens area veterans have never been better than they are today," he
concluded.
Experts advise to get help as soon as possible if you think you're suffering from PTSD. The
symptoms can worsen with time, and early intervention can increase the success of recovery.
The Athens VA clinic is at 510 W. Union St. To schedule an appointment in mental health, call
740-593-7314. Veterans in acute distress should call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-2738255, 24 hours a day.
In addition to mental-health services, the clinic also offers veterans primary health care,
women's health services, optometry and laboratory services, among others.
KPHO-TV (Video): V.A. workers say 'secret list' controversy is frustrating (7 May,
Jonathan Lowe, 17k online visitors/day; Phoenix, AZ)
CBS 5 News has been breaking new details about allegations of mismanagement of patient
care and reports of veterans waiting weeks for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans
Administration.
We wondered about the hardworking men and women at the V.A. just trying to do their jobs.
They're on the front lines at the Phoenix V.A.
"We're not letting this get in the way of day-to-day taking care of our veterans in the hospital,"
said Lt. Col. Dr. Michael Chesser. Chesser is a doctor of internal medicine at the Phoenix V.A.
For the first time since the scandal made headlines, we're hearing from doctors and nurses who
continue to walk and work in the V.A.'s halls while the investigation swirls around them.
"We've been frustrated by the fact that serious allegations were brought. But then we feel some
in the press have run with those as if they were established fact," Chesser added.
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Both Chesser and Phoenix V.A. nurse manager Stacey Hodges admit the scandal has had an
impact on morale at the hospital.
Chesser even told us he feels the staff at the V.A. feel the blow-back from the controversy has
been unfair.
"Yes, yes, and we're concerned," Chesser said. "If people hear these negative stories and just
assume that the V.A. is not here for them and doesn't want to take care of them, then they can
get further marginalized and we care deeply about that."
But Hodges says their mission is clear.
"Not just nurses and physicians, but also ancillary staff...come to the V.A. every single day to
provide the best quality care that they can," she said.
And as for the investigation by the V.A. Inspector General, Hodges said, "I would like to hear the
results of the I.G. and find out what is going to be said from that standpoint."
Hyperlink to Above Article
Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage joins national homeless veterans initiative (7 May,
Devin Kelly, 239k online visitors/mo; Anchorage, AK)
Anchorage is joining a national initiative to end homelessness among U.S. military veterans by
2015, officials announced Wednesday.
The initiative, called the Mayor's Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, is part of a push by
the federal government to end overall homelessness by 2020.
"Many cities throughout the nation are focused on this issue. Anchorage is too," Mayor Dan
Sullivan said at a Wednesday press conference.
He noted the city's history of commitment to homeless initiatives including Karluk Manor, the
city's first facility to offer permanent housing to the chronically homeless without requiring them
to quit drinking.
Since the federal government published the first national plan on ending homelessness in 2010,
veteran homelessness has declined by 24 percent, chronic homelessness by 16 percent and
overall homelessness by 6 percent, said Bill Block, the regional administrator for the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In January, the White House recognized Phoenix as the first city to meet the 2015 goal of
sheltering all homeless veterans. Other cities currently participating in the initiative include
Oakland, California, Jacksonville, Florida and Minneapolis.
In 2013, Anchorage identified 166 chronically homeless veterans, all but six of whom were
sheltered, Block said.
"The goal is, really, there are no unsheltered vets. That's a firm line," Block said. The initiative
also aims to move veterans more rapidly from the shelter system into permanent housing.
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In Anchorage, HUD plans to invest in the Veterans Affairs Supported Housing program, which
offers vouchers, and Supported Services for Veteran Families, Block said.
Federal funds will also be providing $3 million in upgrades to the Safe Harbor transitional
housing property, in partnership with the Rural Alaska Community Action Program. Those
upgrades will include adding rental units and moving some transitional units into permanent
housing, said Melinda Freemon, division manager for the city's Division of Public Health
Initiatives and Partnerships.
In ranking criteria for social services programs, veterans receive higher points, which helps
them gain entry into housing facilities like Safe Harbor and Karluk Manor, Freemon said.
KSTU-TV (Video): Government, charity groups attack problem of veteran homelessness
(7 May, Max Roth, 210k online visitors/mo; Salt Lake City, UT)
SALT LAKE CITY — Daniel Lynch has lived on the streets of Salt Lake City and he’s been
through several intervention programs, but he seems optimistic about this one.
He’s home.
“After a while I rearranged, so we have a bed toward the window,” Lynch says smiling at the
surroundings of his dorm-sized room at the Valor House.
The Valor House provides 72 rooms like Lynch’s to veterans who are homeless or in imminent
danger of homelessness. It’s one part of a multi-level approach the Department of Veteran
Affairs has undertaken with Salt Lake City, the Road Home, Volunteers of America, and other
advocates for the homeless.
“We actually have sufficient resources for the veterans we’re seeing in our area at least,” said Al
Hernandez, Director of Homeless and Justice Programs for the V.A. in Salt Lake City.
Melanie Zamora, director of housing programs with the Road Home, said Salt Lake City has
reached, or is on the cusp of reaching, what she calls “functional zero” for Salt Lake City’s
homeless population.
The biggest challenge is in what is called the “chronic homeless” population: those people who
have become accustomed to the streets while living with some combination of poverty,
joblessness, addiction, and physical and mental health problems.
Veterans make up a disproportionately large percentage of the chronically homeless population.
“Over the last 20 months we have transformed our service delivery system in order to match
veterans with existing resources in our community,” Zamora said.
Information about resources for homeless veterans is available through the VA Homeless
Information Line: 801-582-1565 extension 6301.
Hyperlink to Above Article
Victorville Daily Press: Female veterans are treated differently (7 May, Fred Dunning, 79k
online visitors/mo; Victorville, CA)
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As consultants and trainers on military and veterans issues, non-veteran clinicians discuss their
clients with us at Vital Experiences. Recently a civilian clinician contacted me about a client she
was working with. Sue had finally sought out counseling after 20 years of living with her sexual
assault while serving four years on active duty in the Army.
Sue was tired of hiding her assault from her husband and wanted help to understand and deal
with the betrayal of her superiors. This was brought on by the recent events concerning Military
Sexual Trauma (MST) in the news and her husband questioning her about her time in. Sue had
been raped by her lieutenant (LT) and given extra duty for having the gall to report it to her
commanding officer (CO). She was treated as a liar and grilled by the investigator, who was her
CO. She was forced to re-live her rape and nothing ever happened to the LT.
Her assault was swept under the rug, and the LT went on to become a major, probably
assaulting more people. Word got out of her “betrayal” and male soldiers started treating her
with contempt because they felt she could not be trusted. Her civilian clinician was taken aback
and could not understand how this could happen in a culture like the military where everyone
“follows orders.”
Unfortunately this is common in the military, worse than we as a society want to believe.
During the consultation I told the clinician that I have yet to meet a female veteran that has not,
at a minimum, been sexually harassed while in the military. With the recent interest in MST a lot
of female veterans struggle because it brings up old wounds. Many female veterans have
flashbacks of their trauma, causing them to relive the horrors of their time in. The clinician went
on to tell more of the story, and it sounded all too familiar.
In many cases the way females are looked at and treated continues after their separation from
the service.
I met a female veteran at MST training who was livid that MST has only come to light in recent
years because men have started coming forward. She stated “it did not matter about MST until
men started coming forward, now it has become a big deal.” Women feel it has only become
legitimate when men started coming forward about their MST; in reality it looks that way.
Women feel they are widely ignored by the Veterans Administration (VA). This was verified
when Susan, a female veteran I know, went to the Loma Linda VA medical center for services.
At the desk she was asked for her husband’s social security number and told they generally
don’t treat spouses. When she corrected the VA employee, he said, “OK, how can I help you?”
This might sound small, but it is offensive to any veteran and would not happen to a male
veteran. Women are not seen as military members, they are seen as spouses. This was not an
isolated incident. Another female friend went to the vet center and was told by the lead clinician
to stop being an angry Latino woman and deal with her situation. This type of sexist remark
would never happen to a male veteran.
A lot of female veterans won’t tell anyone they were in. They stay quiet because they are looked
at differently by civilian men who did not serve. Some of these men seem to be embarrassed
that a woman served and they didn’t. Female civilians don’t understand why a woman would
join the military: That’s a man's job. When they do talk about their time in, usually to other
veterans, female veterans feel they are partially a part of the good ol’ boys club, but are only
allowed one foot in. They are received skeptically by many male veterans.
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Information released in 2010 from the California Department of Veterans Affairs shows that
female veterans are the fastest growing sub-population with a median age of 46 and a
population of 1.8 million. A female in the military is more likely to be raped than killed. This
causes an increased risk of suicide for female vets between the ages of 18-34 because of
sexual trauma. Of those females in the military, 55 percent were sexually assaulted. For civilian
females, the percentage of women sexually assaulted stands at 24 percent. Those women vets
who have experienced MST (and torture) are more likely to develop PTSD.
Every veteran who has symptoms of MST is eligible for treatment at the VA, no matter the
length of service. Part of the problem is the VA is not equipped to deal with female issues, so
the VA tries unsuccessfully, making things worse. The VA needs to get better at understanding
women’s needs. Our society needs to give these veterans the respect they have earned. Male
veterans need to treat our sisters as one of us with respect. Female veterans deserve to be
treated equally by everyone.
An American Legion study’s recommendations on the needs of women at the VA include, but
are not limited to:
1. Women veterans do not identify themselves as veterans and/or do not know what benefits
they are eligible to receive. An outreach program needs development.
2. VA medical centers evaluated in the report do not have baseline, one-, two- and five-year
plans to close the gap between the catchment area, enrollment numbers and actual users
among women veterans.
3. Women veterans do not receive their mammogram results in a timely manner.
4. Many VA facilities do not offer inpatient/residential mental-health programs for women
veterans.
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