Michelle Cox-Henley, the chief of nursing and patient services at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has been named acting director of the Augusta hospital while a permanent replacement is found for Bob Hamilton, who stepped down from the leadership role Sunday.
Cox-Henleys appointment marks the second time in 16 months she has served as acting director, first holding the interim position in summer 2013 while Hamilton filled in as director for 60 days at the Williams Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia.
Both hospitals have been at the center of a nationwide scandal in which nine patients died and 27 others saw conditions worsen as a result of delaying more than 7,500 veterans from receiving gastrointestinal consultations.
Hamilton, previously an administrator at the Air Forces Wilford Hall Medical Center in Texas, announced his resignation in late October to focus on more personal goals. He became the fourth Augusta VA executive to quit in 20 months after the departures of chiefs of staff Dr. Luke Stapleton and Michael Spencer, and associate director Richard Toby Rose.
Pete Scovill, a spokesman for the Augusta VA, said in an e-mail that a chief of staff has been selected and will be introduced in January.
Scovill said Cox-Henley, a registered nurse with a Masters of Science in nursing, will ensure leadership continuity in fulfilling the VAs commitment to veterans during the search for a new director.
Cox-Henleys appointment comes a week after Philip Matkovsky, the federal VAs deputy under secretary for health, operations and management, visited the Augusta hospital to discuss improvements, future plans and areas of further review.
Scovill said the hospitals gastrointestinal program has made a number of improvements since Hamilton was appointed to lead the facility in July 2012, bringing in extra personnel and equipment to manage delays and obtain endoscopies for 4,580 patients.
Those efforts, however, came after three cancer patients died in 2011 and four others experienced worsening conditions.
The seven adverse outcomes are among 16 the Augusta VA has reported in the past two fiscal years 11 in 2013 and five in 2014 for procedures and treatment in primary and specialty care, surgery, gastrointestinal, nursing services, dental and radiology programs.
The gastrointestinal deaths have drawn the most scrutiny.
The House Committee on Veterans Affairs launched an investigation in September 2013 into the management of the gastrointestinal program under the administration of Hamiltons predecessor Rebecca Wiley. The probe found that only one employee, Stapleton, was punished with verbal counseling.
The VA Inspector Generals office has also completed an investigation on health care issues at the Augusta hospital, but spokeswoman Catherine Gromek said the final report is under review by management and not ready for public release.
