NEWS

VA acting director was flagged for discipline in 2012

Nicole Gaudiano, Donovan Slack and Xerxes Wilson
USA Today
The Wilmington VA Medical Center in Elsmere. Robert Callahan, who was assigned to manage the center, was recommended for disciplinary action four years ago, records indicate.

WASHINGTON - Robert Callahan, tapped last week to manage the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Elsmere after the previous director was temporarily reassigned, was recommended for disciplinary action four years ago at another VA facility, according to investigators.

As director of the Lebanon, Pennslyvania, VA center, Callahan violated federal regulations by failing to properly report a possible felony drug diversion case to investigators, according to a 2012 report by the VA's inspector general. The report alleges Callahan interfered with an inspector general's investigation into the matter and did not testify “freely and honestly.”

The inspector general recommended that VA officials “determine the appropriate administrative action to take against Mr. Callahan and ensure that action is taken.” Asked Tuesday whether Callahan had been disciplined, a VA official responded, "We are unable to discuss any personnel matters tied to this report."

Callahan could not be reached for comment.

Callahan, who took over as director of the Lebanon VA center in 2007, last week became acting director at the Elsmere facility following director Robin C. Aube-Warren’s move to a VA management office in Pittsburgh.

Mystery surrounds Wilmington VA director reassignment

Callahan was tapped to assess systemwide “performance issues” at the Elsmere facility, said David Cowgill, communications manager for a VA hospital network that includes the Pittsburgh office.

"Robin Aube-Warren has been temporarily detailed, not reassigned, while overall facility performance issues are assessed," Cowgill wrote in a Tuesday email. "There is no action against or investigation into Aube-Warren. Robert Callahan is a seasoned executive who will bring a fresh perspective to process and performance improvement at the medical center."

Two VA employees with direct knowledge of the move said Aube-Warren was reassigned in part because quality of care and other measures at the Elsmere VA center deteriorated under her leadership. They spoke separately and on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation from VA bosses for speaking publicly.

The inspector general's April 2012 recommendations involving Callahan concerned a nurse at the Lebanon facility who was charged in 2011 with diverting narcotic pain relievers morphine and oxycodone. Callahan chose not to notify the inspector general, as required by regulations, and was “less than candid” with investigators, making statements that were deemed false or not credible about when he first learned of the allegations and whether he told the medical center's police chief to delay notifying the inspector general's office.

The report states he interfered with the investigation by talking with an employee about it, even though he told investigators he had no such conversations with staff. Investigators found he had asked an employee to recount events during the center’s investigation of the nurse and had asked for a copy of a timeline the employee was preparing.

Wilmington VA 'flagged for further review'

Callahan is among a number of VA directors who were transferred from facilities where they faced issues ranging from low-ranking quality of care to wait-time falsification to mismanagement identified by outside investigators.

A USA Today investigation found the VA has hired just eight medical center directors from outside the agency since Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald took over the troubled agency in 2014, despite McDonald's assertion that more than 90 percent of the VA’s medical centers have “new leadership” or “leadership teams.” The rest of the “new” leadership – only 60 percent when it comes to medical center directors – is the result of moving existing managers between jobs and medical centers.

VA officials told USA Today that salary constraints, a lengthy hiring process and other factors have limited the agency's ability to attract non-VA applicants.

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Callahan has worked in a variety of capacities at the VA since 1993 and served as an adjunct professor at Millersville University, a Defense Department program manager, and a chemical industry researcher in the late 1980s, according to his biography.

His biography describes him as a veterans’ advocate whose mantra is “excellence in all.”

“He believes as civil servants we are called to a higher purpose than ourselves, values honesty, integrity creativity and loyalty and is personally committed to serving America's heroes," his biography states. "He is very interested in open communication, employee development and ways to reward and motivate employees."

The Wilmington VA, which oversees the Elsmere hospital as well as outpatient clinics in Dover, Georgetown and southern New Jersey, has seen its share of challenges. Among them: a report by the VA inspector general released in March that found excessive wait times and scheduling errors for patients seeking care at Delaware facilities.

A spokesman for the Elsmere VA center said that investigation came at the request of Aube-Warren, who was appointed to head the center in 2014. The probe came in response to controversy surrounding the Phoenix VA center, where as many as 40 patients died awaiting medical attention.

Aube-Warren’s move followed an incident in March when Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, Navy veteran Charles Ingram III, 51, died after dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself ablaze outside the Northfield Veterans Clinic, which is managed by the Wilmington VA.

In May, VA officials and members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation announced the three southern New Jersey clinics were to be removed from Wilmington VA oversight and see increased staffing levels.

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