Good Moves for VA Accountability

Written by Vets National Advocates on October 14, 2014. Posted in Uncategorized

In a welcome move, the new head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, former Proctor & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald, has taken swift advantage of new powers granted to him by Congress to announce he will fire four senior executives for poor performance and wrongdoing. More disciplinary moves are expected.

The fired executives include hospital directors in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dublin, Ga., and a regional hospital director in Alabama. A fourth executive, the deputy chief procurement officer for the Veterans Hospital Administration, was fired after an inspector general’s report found that she had improperly steered contracts and interfered with the IG’s investigation.

“VA will actively and aggressively pursue disciplinary action against those who violate our values,” said Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson. “There should be no doubt that when we discover evidence of wrongdoing, we will hold employees accountable.”

It will require continued aggressive action by Secretary McDonald to satisfy the VA’s critics on Capitol Hill.

Pointing out that one of the hospital directors had already announced retirement, the head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said, “Bragging about the proposed removal of someone who has already announced his retirement can only be described as disingenuous.”

John Goldman of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Ga., said last month he had applied for retirement. Employees at the hospital have admitted keeping false records to hide long wait times for veterans seeking health care.

The VA, however, said the decision to fire Goldman will take precedence over his request to retire. That’s the right message to send to those who would put veterans at risk in medical facilities built for their care.

The shakeup initiated by Secretary McDonald is badly needed. It must be pursued if the VA is ever going to recover from the damage done to the institution and to veterans by an unaccountable bureaucracy that has lied to its leaders, the public and its clients for years by covering up backlogs, turning away sick veterans needing urgent care and playing other tricks to create a false impression of excellence.

Tags: Veterans News