Amid Secret Waitlist and Injury Controversy, Veterans Administration Secretary Resigns
After a heated round of questioning from Congress and numerous reports of “secret waitlists” and veterans unable to receive medical help, a top official with Veterans Administration has resigned.
On Friday, May 16th, Secretary of the Veterans Administration Eric Shinseki accepted the resignation of Robert Pretzel, the undersecretary of health care. Allegedly, Shinseki asked for Pretzel’s resignation.
On Thursday, April 24th, news broke that the Veterans Administration Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona had a secret waiting list to hide delays in months-long delays in treatment and diagnoses, so that the hospital would appear as though it made strides in shortening wait times. Allegedly, the Phoenix VA had a waiting list, hidden in a file, of 1,400 to 1,600 veterans who were forced to wait months to see a doctor, and whose information was never put into the computer database to track their wait times.
Since the news broke, veterans, caretakers, and supporters all over the country have called for Shinseki to resign, because they believe his lack of oversight led to the severity of the problems, from delayed treatment to wrongful deaths, at the Phoenix VA.
On May 7th, Shinseki stated that he refused to resign, and that he served in the Veterans Affairs post because President Obama appointed him. In a statement to NPR, Shinseki said that he was determined to get to the bottom of the wrongful death allegations at VA hospitals.
During a House of Reps meeting, a former Veterans Administration clinic director from Phoenix told a committee that up to 40 people may have died while waiting for appointments at the VA. However, Acting Inspector General Robert Griffin told the House committee that records showed 17 people had died while waiting for treatment at the VA, but that their deaths appeared to be unrelated to the secret waiting list.
After the Phoenix waitlist came to light, at least 10 other Veterans Administration hospitals have been accused of similar falsifying of records.
“If these allegations are true people should be going to jail, not just resigning their positions,” Senator John McCain said, adding that a criminal investigation by the Justice Department appears inevitable.
“As we know from the veteran community, most veterans are satisfied with the quality of their VA health care, but we must do more to improve timely access to that care,” Shinseski said in a statement announcing the undersecretary’s resignation.
The American Legion, which has called for Shinseki to resign, has stated: ‘‘This move by VA is not a corrective action, but a continuation of business as usual.’’
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