IG: Phoenix VA hospital missed care for 1,700 vets

[unhappycamper]

http://gazette.com/ig-phoenix-va-hospital-missed-care-for-1700-vets/article/feed/122838

IG: Phoenix VA hospital missed care for 1,700 vets
Associated Press Updated: May 28, 2014 at 11:32 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" after being kept off the official waiting list at the troubled Phoenix veterans hospital, the Veterans Affairs watchdog said Wednesday in a scathing report that increases pressure on Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.

The investigation, initially focused on the Phoenix hospital, found systemic problems in the VA's sprawling nationwide system, which provides medical care to about 6.5 million veterans each year. The interim report confirmed allegations of excessive waiting time for care in Phoenix, with an average 115-day wait for a first appointment for those on the waiting list — 91 days longer than the 24-day average the hospital had reported.

"While our work is not complete, we have substantiated that significant delays in access to care negatively impacted the quality of care at this medical facility," Richard J. Griffin, the department's acting inspector general, wrote in the 35-page report. It found that "inappropriate scheduling practices are systemic throughout" the VA's 1,700 health facilities nationwide, including 150 hospitals and 820 clinics.

Griffin said 42 centers are under investigation, up from 26.


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If you're looking for someone to fire, I'd suggest your look at Republicans first. Let's start with the Lawnmower Guy:

http://www.veterans.senate.gov/about/ranking

[white cloud]

1. Good call out.

Start right at the heart of the problem....Republicans and Tea party funding and blocking benefit bills.