LOMA LINDA >> Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald conducted a whirlwind visit to the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Medical Center on Tuesday, bringing his customer focus message with him.
What we are trying to do is get veterans the care that they have earned, McDonald said. Trust in the VA has been compromised, and we are going to have to earn it back one veteran at a time.
President Barack Obama brought the former Procter & Gamble CEO in to run the VA last year after long-time chief Eric Shinseki resigned under a barrage of criticism.
While other heads of the agency have promised a new focus to meet veterans needs, McDonald said here Tuesday that none headed a multibillion-dollar firm, whose stock increased 60 percent under his tenure there, from 2009 to 2013.
Across the nation we have had problems with access, accountability, transparency and integrity. All of those are well documented, he said.
To a meeting of some 375 Loma Linda VA employees, McDonald said he asked them to recommit to the organizations values.
Later McDonald noted that since taking office about six month ago, some 700 VA employees nationally have been terminated for not meeting the VA core values.
McDonald spoke to media and senior VA executives at the 37-acre site where a new 271,000-square-foot ambulatory care center is expected to open spring 2016.
The site is about 2 miles east of the main hospital campus, which was designed to serve 27,000 when it opened in 1977 and now serves some 72,000.
This building will be tremendous, said Barbara Fallon, Loma Linda Medical Center director. Our building (the main hospital) is saturated…
This building will allow staff to practice at the top of their ability, Fallon said.
Space limitations at the main campus mean each primary care physician has one or at most two examination rooms for patients. Ideally there should be three per physician, Fallon said. And that will be the case in the new facility.
The Loma Linda VA is seeking to add about 160 new employees, including some 23 physicians and 65 in the behavioral health arena.
McDonald noted that as the VA reaches out to hire more employees, it competes in state and national markets where there are shortages of primary care and behavioral health professionals.
The stop in Loma Linda was the 85th VA facility visit for McDonald in recent weeks.
McDonald was headed to Los Angeles today and Thursday to tour VA facilities and talk with leaders.
Among McDonalds agendas for that trip is a meeting with Mayor Eric Garcetti to discuss a partnership on veteran issues.
He also said he planned to discuss public-private partnership opportunities with several individuals and groups.
Anybody in business like I have, will tell you that strategic partnerships are critically important, McDonald said.
