VA Secretary McDonald visits Delaware center
Still no word on when the investigation into manipulation of patient scheduling data at the Wilmington VA Medical Center and its outpatient clinics in Delaware and New Jersey will be completed, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald told reporters following a tour of the Elsmere facility Monday.
McDonald did say 21 of the more than 90 nationwide inquiries into patient scheduling issues are done and in the process of being written up.
"We're actually eager to get them all done and get them put behind us," McDonald said. "I don't know the schedule of when this one will specifically be released, but I can guarantee you, as soon as we get it we will work hard to remediate any issues that he found, if there are any, and make sure we move forward."
The wait time issue came to a head last year when long delays in care and manipulation of appointment schedules at the Phoenix VA hospital were publicized, leading to the resignation of then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, VA Inspector General investigations of nearly 100 facilities and a halting start to firing complicit workers.
The Wilmington VAMC was among those singled out. Wilmington-system staffers told The News Journal last summer of practices such as shifting patients from one doctor's caseload to another's, making those patients lose their places in line, so to speak. Numerous patients told The News Journal of lengthy delays they said made their conditions worse.
Following a town hall-style meeting last month at the center, the Wilmington VAMC director said she had been briefed on the findings, but had not been told when the report will be released.
The director, Robin Aube-Warren, was on the stage Monday alongside McDonald and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who reminded the secretary of the Inspector General's request for an additional $15 million in the coming budget year to help resolve these inquiries.
"All of us are united that we want to get that money to bulk up the employment of the IG so we can get these investigations behind us," McDonald said.
McDonald was in Delaware for an annual meeting Carper set up with veterans service organizations. While at the center McDonald met with hospital leaders and its regional network, as well as veterans. Media was not allowed on the tour portion of his visit.
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.
