IN WAKE OF SCANDAL VA CHIEF OUT
Today President Obama accepted the resignation of Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Eric Shinseki, after the scandal generated by a report releases this Wednesday. The report indicated that the Phoenix Veteran Affairs Health Care System manipulated scheduling and broke department policy to conceal delays in medical care. Worse, in the fall out from the report it became clear that the problem was not isolated to Phoenix, but was systemic and wide-spread.
The VA Inspector General found that 1,700 veterans waiting to see doctors were either never scheduled for an appointment or placed on a wait list. Worse, at least 40 veterans died while waiting to receive medical care from Phoenix VA hospitals. CNN also reported that VA facilities in Wyoming were instructed to “game the system” so that the clinic appeared to be running more efficiently. The depth and breadth of the issue launched it to the forefront of national news, ultimately leading to Secretary Shinseki’s resignation today following his address to Congress.
Shinseki’s resignation comes in the wake of calls from both leading Democrats and Republicans for his ouster, and raises questions about what direction the beleaguered agency will head under new leadership. Today’s outcome was far from a surprise for many expert observers- President Obama had previously indicated that he would demand accountability if problems were uncovered in the investigative process. On Secretary Shinseki’s resignation, President Obama said, “he’s good person who’s done exemplary work on our behalf,” but concluded that “he could not carry out the next stages of reform without being a distraction himself.” What these next stages of reform will be, and how they will address the issues plaguing the VA, remains unclear.
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