Department of VA Inspector General Report Confirms Allegations that VA Health Clinics Cooked the Books Delaying Treatment to VETS an Average of 155 Days

VA SCANDAL … It is as bad as first thought and this is only the tip of the iceberg of a systemic issue throughout the Veterans Administration.

The WAPO is reporting that the allegations against the VA have been substantiated by a recent independent report from the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general’s office. The report focused mainly on the Phoenix clinic, where recent allegations of records manipulation came to public knowledge and scrutiny. However, the problem is not just in Phoenix, it is every where. The inappropriate scheduling practices are systemic throughout the Veterans Health Administration. Even with bi-partisan calls for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, he has not done so yet. However, this is only a matter of time. First thought weeks and then maybe days, the VA scandal has become so bad and wide-spread, that calls from all sides that it may be hours.

Department of Veteran Affairs IG report (pdf.)

However, the problem is not just Shinseki and is not the only one that needs to go. There are many within the VA who probably needs to be tried criminally. No one does not think that Gen. Shinseki is not a patriot and we thank him for his tremendous military service to the United States; however, that does not make him a concomitant administrator and for that he needs to be replaced.  However Barack Obama continues to stand behind Shinseki as no one in the Obama Administration is ever held accountable for scandals and incompetence.

An independent report from the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general’s office substantiates recent allegations that VA health clinics used inappropriate scheduling practices that concealed treatment delays — lasting an average of 115 days in a sampling of patients — and boosted performance measures that help determine whether bonuses are deserved.

The report said 1,700 veterans using a Phoenix VA hospital were kept on unofficial wait lists, adding that “these veterans were and continue to be at risk of being forgotten or lost in Phoenix HCS’s convoluted scheduling process.”

Official VA data showed that 226 patients in a sampling from the Phoenix clinic had waited just 24 days on average for their first primary care appointments. But the inspector general’s office determined that those veterans had actually waited an average of 115 days.

The unofficial wait lists may represent the “secret” list that whistleblowers claim the Phoenix clinic used to cover up treatment delays, according to the report.