40 U.S. veterans die while on Phoenix VA hospital's cost-cutting secret wait list

[Phurfur 70]

At least 40 U.S. veterans have died waiting for medical appointments at Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system including many placed on a secret waiting list.

The list was part of a complex cost-cutting scheme set up by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix aiming to hide the fact that between 1,400 and 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait up to 21 months to see a doctor, according to whistle-blowing retired top VA doctor and high-level sources.

Internal emails reveal managers at Arizonas VA hospital knew about the practice and even condoned it.

Retiring Dr. Sam Foote, who spent 24 years with the VA system, told CNN that the Phoenix VA worked off two patient appointment lists.

The "official" list shows the VA was offering timely appointments within 14 to 30 days. Foote called this a sham list because there was another secret document where waits where much longer.

"The scheme was deliberately put in place to avoid the VA's own internal rules. They developed the secret waiting list, he said.

According to Foote, the elaborate plans involved shredding evidence to hide the long list, with VA officials instructing staff to not make veterans appointments in the computer system.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/40-veterans-die-va-hospital-secret-wait-list-report-article-1.1767284#ixzz30CC44BCl

 

 

The Death Panels are here! This sounds like murder. It will be interesting to see what the government does about this.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

That's sad. Should not be happening.

[NewbieJr 540]

I'm against this.

[Phurfur 70]

I'm against this.

Well these people belong to the same organization that just took over your health care so buckle up!

[Drizzay 644]

Death Panels!

[Phurfur 70]

The Veterans Administration, engulfed in a scandal over delays in patient care, says it has put two North Carolina employees on leave because they may have taken part in inappropriate scheduling practices.

 

Preparations for a national audit ordered by Eric Shinseki, the VA secretary, found that the two employees may have engaged in the inappropriate scheduling at a VA hospital in Durham between 2009 and 2012, NBC affiliate WNCN reported.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/va-hospital-scandal/two-leave-north-carolina-va-checks-inappropriate-scheduling-n103951

[crackattack 513]

Our VAs are a horrible mess and it should be a national disgrace the way we don't take care of our returning wounded vets. It's been this way a long time and only getting worse. This should be a top priority in fixing the VAs....but sadly it won't. I'd give half of our defense budget to the VAs until the problem gets fixed. Ass hole politicians.

[Sho Nuff 719]

Our VAs are a horrible mess and it should be a national disgrace the way we don't take care of our returning wounded vets. It's been this way a long time and only getting worse. This should be a top priority in fixing the VAs....but sadly it won't. I'd give half of our defense budget to the VAs until the problem gets fixed. Ass hole politicians.

 

Agreed...did an audit both of the VA and the Veteran's Home here in TN years ago and there had been a ton of previous findings and some things that didn't get cleaned up.

The newer homes were getting better for sure...but still had some major issues.

[crackattack 513]

Well these people belong to the same organization that just took over your health care so buckle up!

Why are you so fixed on one administration? This has been a problem as long as I can remember. Nobody has been trying to put real policies in place to fix our VAs. I guess it's a good political talking points. Let's use our wounded and dying vets to bash Obama, but nevermind it's been a problem for decades.

[edjr 5,547]

[Vikings4ever 496]

Why are you so fixed on one administration? This has been a problem as long as I can remember. Nobody has been trying to put real policies in place to fix our VAs. I guess it's a good political talking points. Let's use our wounded and dying vets to bash Obama, but nevermind it's been a problem for decades.

It's not so much a bash against the Obama administration as it is a bash against government run health care.

[crackattack 513]

It's not so much a bash against the Obama administration as it is a bash against government run health care.

Military health care has always been run by the government. Long before Obama care was even thought of.

[drobeski 3,061]

Why are you so fixed on one administration? This has been a problem as long as I can remember. Nobody has been trying to put real policies in place to fix our VAs. I guess it's a good political talking points. Let's use our wounded and dying vets to bash Obama, but nevermind it's been a problem for decades.

link ?

[crackattack 513]

link ?

The death panels comment didn't make that obvious enough for you?

[Vikings4ever 496]

Military health care has always been run by the government. Long before Obama care was even thought of.

Which is kind of my point. Anyone who thinks single payer will solve our health care problems just need look at the VA.

[NewbieJr 540]

Lololol. And yet another decades-long problem is blamed on Obama by phurfur and his retarded sidekicks. Lololol. And they wonder why no one takes them seriously.

[crackattack 513]

Which is kind of my point. Anyone who thinks single payer will solve our health care problems just need look at the VA.

I agree with you on government run health care for a nation would be bad. Our VAs could be fixed with proper funding.

[Phurfur 70]

Why are you so fixed on one administration? This has been a problem as long as I can remember. Nobody has been trying to put real policies in place to fix our VAs. I guess it's a good political talking points. Let's use our wounded and dying vets to bash Obama, but nevermind it's been a problem for decades.

Lololol. And yet another decades-long problem is blamed on Obama by phurfur and his retarded sidekicks. Lololol. And they wonder why no one takes them seriously.

I never once mention Obama or his Administration. You are the ones who brought him up.

 

You are proof that you can't fix stupid.

[Phurfur 70]

The chief watchdog for the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed Thursday that his office is working with federal prosecutors to weigh whether criminal charges are warranted in the health care scandal at a Phoenix VA facility.

 

VA acting Inspector General Richard J. Griffin, who spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill after VA Secretary Eric Shinseki delivered his first public testimony since the scandal broke, vowed to complete an "exhaustive review" and predicted it would be done by around August.

 

He said that review includes OIG criminal investigators as well as federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona and the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. They are working, he said, to "determine any conduct that we discover that merits criminal prosecution."

 

His comments come as some lawmakers call for heads to roll over the burgeoning controversy over patient deaths tied to delayed care. Facing calls for his resignation, Shinseki defended the VA system but vowed to get to the bottom of what happened in Phoenix and elsewhere, and take "all actions necessary."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/15/shinseki-va-testimony-watchdog/

[penultimatestraw 473]

The Death Panels are here! This sounds like murder. It will be interesting to see what the government does about this.

What in the sam he!! does this have to do with "death panels?" Seems like a big cover up to hide long wait times, though I see nothing to indicate certain patients were selected before others.

 

But yeah, VA care has been sh!tty for a long time.

[penultimatestraw 473]

Which is kind of my point. Anyone who thinks single payer will solve our health care problems just need look at the VA.

Why not look at centralized healthcare in other countries? Can't we learn from what works elsewhere?

[Voltaire 4,554]

This is both shocking and not surprising at the same time. Anybody who's ever dealt with the VA knows what a sh*tty organization it is. Service is p*ss poor. The thing is, I always just assumed it's because they're mostly all lazy, incompetent, and don't give a sh*t. It's a cancer that affects government employees across the board. You go to deal with them they cant answer questions or provide help.

 

That the Phoenix VA is beyond incompetent and lazy- that they're deliberately negligent- is outrageous. I'm always inclined to give the fockheads the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully this scandal goes nuclear.

[wiffleball 4,631]

I heard the other side of the story from the VA administrators there. If true this is pretty bad over reaction on the part of the press. Again if true. Herman's big set up a separate list so the guys who were supposed to wait 30 40 Days for treatment could get immediate treatment if there was a cancellation in the list above them.

 

again I don't know what's true or not but it's clear the VA is just overloaded with way to m a ny pstients,

[Phurfur 70]

I heard the other side of the story from the VA administrators there. If true this is pretty bad over reaction on the part of the press. Again if true. Herman's big set up a separate list so the guys who were supposed to wait 30 40 Days for treatment could get immediate treatment if there was a cancellation in the list above them.

again I don't know what's true or not but it's clear the VA is just overloaded with way to m a ny pstients,

CBS: Fifth VA office conducted wait-list fraud

 

The scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs deepened late yesterday and this time picked up a paper trail. CBS News obtained an e-mail from an official at a fifth VA office, this time in Wyoming, explaining how to game the wait-list system in order to stay off of the bad boys list. And its not the first time the VA has had an issue with the Cheyenne office, either:

 

 

The email, written by Telehealth Coordinator David Newman, a registered nurse, describes how patients at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center are always listed getting appointments within a 14-day window, no matter when the appointment was first requested, and no matter how long the patient actually waited.

 

The memo admitted, Yes, this is gaming the system a bit because when we exceed the 14 day measure, the front office gets very upset, which doesnt help us.

 

The employee further instructs staff on how to get off the bad boys list by cancelling the visit (by clinic) and then rescheduling it with a desired date within that 14 day window.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/10/cbs-fifth-va-office-conducted-wait-list-fraud/

[Phurfur 70]

I intend to start that work by making good on my pledge to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 21st century. That's an effort that, under Secretary Shinseki's leadership, all of you have already begun -- conducting a thorough review of your operations all across this agency. And I intend to support this effort not just with words of encouragement, but with resources. That's why the budget I sent to Congress increases funding for this department by $25 billion over the next five years.

 

With this budget, we don't just fully fund our VA health care program -- we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013; to provide better health care in more places; and to dramatically improve services related to mental health and injuries like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. We also invest in the technology to cut red tape and ease the transition from active duty. And we provide new help for homeless veterans, because those heroes have a home -- it's the country they served, the United States of America. And until we reach a day when not a single veteran sleeps on our nation's streets, our work remains unfinished. (Applause.)

- Barack Obama March 16, 2009

 

 

Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/obamas_remarks_on_veterans_aff.html#ixzz31umSU7VX

[jerryskids 5,172]

CBS: Fifth VA office conducted wait-list fraud

 

The scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs deepened late yesterday and this time picked up a paper trail. CBS News obtained an e-mail from an official at a fifth VA office, this time in Wyoming, explaining how to game the wait-list system in order to stay off of the bad boys list. And its not the first time the VA has had an issue with the Cheyenne office, either:

 

 

The email, written by Telehealth Coordinator David Newman, a registered nurse, describes how patients at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center are always listed getting appointments within a 14-day window, no matter when the appointment was first requested, and no matter how long the patient actually waited.

 

The memo admitted, Yes, this is gaming the system a bit because when we exceed the 14 day measure, the front office gets very upset, which doesnt help us.

 

The employee further instructs staff on how to get off the bad boys list by cancelling the visit (by clinic) and then rescheduling it with a desired date within that 14 day window.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/10/cbs-fifth-va-office-conducted-wait-list-fraud/

Yeah, I'm hearing this goes well beyond Phoenix. Either the incentive to game the system was so compelling that a bunch of individual offices came up with the same idea, or more likely it came from higher up.

[parrot 789]

Well if cost-cutting was the goal, I'd say mission accomplished.

[Voltaire 4,554]

Well if cost-cutting was the goal, I'd say mission accomplished.

More evidence and warning bells that the country is fading due to neglect and ruin. The future of all the debt problems is already happening now.

[Voltaire 4,554]

Eric Shinseki has to go. His testimony is embarrassing. He doesn't seem convinced of the magnitude of the problem (actually it's clear he doesn't give a sh*t).

[wiffleball 4,631]

Eric Shinseki has to go. His testimony is embarrassing. He doesn't seem convinced of the magnitude of the problem (actually it's clear he doesn't give a sh*t).

 

He's a cuunt. Clearly one of the worst generals we've had. One of his first and "biggest" moves? He really like the berets that the green berets had, so he made the entire Army wear them. They are the most impractical, difficult and most ineffective items on the planet, but this is where this phag decided to dedicate his efforts.

 

Has since been repealed.

 

Just an absolutely worthless cunnt.

[Voltaire 4,554]

 

He's a cuunt. Clearly one of the worst generals we've had. One of his first and "biggest" moves? He really like the berets that the green berets had, so he made the entire Army wear them. They are the most impractical, difficult and most ineffective items on the planet, but this is where this phag decided to dedicate his efforts.

 

Has since been repealed.

 

Just an absolutely worthless cunnt.

Well, I wouldn't go that far. He served with distinction in the Army and his assessment that we were using far too few troops in Iraq proved poignant. Cosmetic alteration to uniforms don't register with me. I'm not going to criticize what he did in service but what he has done in this job has been a disaster.

[Phurfur 70]

The Obama administration, battling to tamp down yet another scandal, announced the resignation Friday afternoon of a top Veterans Affairs official amid mounting questions over patient deaths possibly tied to delayed care.

 

But as with prior controversies, the administration's response, critics say, is not nearly aggressive enough. The official said to be resigning already was planning to retire. And once again, the president is being accused of relying on political allies to lead internal reviews, without directly firing anyone.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/16/top-va-health-official-resigns-amid-scandal/

[Sho Nuff 719]

So it didn't take long before phurfur did post a fox news piece to bash Obama over this.

[peenie 1,690]

you republicans are a hoot.

you cry and whine about government waste and cutting costs and then when the cuts come you cry and complain some more.

when obama says, "hey, everyone needs healthcare, it should be a right not an option," you still complain!

i live on the same street as the VA hospital and it's crowded as heck, not with young people (recently wounded) but old timers.

[crackattack 513]

you republicans are a hoot.

you cry and whine about government waste and cutting costs and then when the cuts come you cry and complain some more.

when obama says, "hey, everyone needs healthcare, it should be a right not an option," you still complain!

i live on the same street as the VA hospital and it's crowded as heck, not with young people (recently wounded) but old timers.

Obama hasn't cut spending to the Veterans Affairs, he's actually increased it, with more to come. The VA system is broken. It's been broken for years. Funding needs increased even more, staffing at va's needs to be increased, they need to make it easier for veterans to get care. Once government gets involved, things generally get worse over time. Hence the problem we have now.

[drobeski 3,061]

So it didn't take long before phurfur did post a fox news piece to bash Obama over this.

pretty quick of you to deflect, you just can't get that little brain of yours to fathom holding obama accountable for anything can you?

[Sho Nuff 719]

pretty quick of you to deflect, you just can't get that little brain of yours to fathom holding obama accountable for anything can you?

 

Hold Obama accountable for something he had nothing to do with?

For a system that has broken for years upon years?

 

Thanks for once again proving you are hack for the republican party drobs...always easy to point that out about you.

 

Or perhaps you can explain how this issue is Obama's fault?

[drobeski 3,061]

Must remember, with obama and his lemmings, he bucks stops anywhere but there.

[Sho Nuff 719]

Must remember, with obama and his lemmings, he bucks stops anywhere but there.

 

Says the ultimate party lemming.

I ask again...care to explain how this issue is Obama's fault?

Or are you just going to continue your usual hackery and cry about other posters without offering anything of substance?

[gocolts 300]

Must remember, with obama and his lemmings, he bucks stops anywhere but there.

TRUTH. There are a few posters who prove this daily here. It is beyond belief at this point.