A congressional subcommittee wants an "immediate investigation" into the alleged scheduling manipulation at the Fort Collins Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic.
In an April 29 letter to an assistant inspector general with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, obtained by the Coloradoan, Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., called alleged misdeeds by the Fort Collins Community-Based Outpatient Clinic "reprehensible."
Coffman, chair of the Veterans Affairs investigations subcommittee, singles out allegations that:
• The clinical staff falsified dates to make it seem veterans received appointments within 14 days;
• Appointments were scheduled without patients' input;
• Appointments were canceled by VA staff, putting veterans on a waiting list for future appointments.
Coffman, whose district includes east metro Denver and up to Brighton, drew parallels between allegations against the Fort Collins office and Phoenix. Delayed cancer screenings at the Phoenix VA were linked to the death of 23 veterans over four years, according to prior reports.
"Given the dire nature of the allegations and how similar issues are occurring in Phoenix with disastrous results, I am concerned that it is a systemic problem occurring throughout VA," Coffman wrote.
Administrators at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center, which the Fort Collins center falls under, were not immediately available for comment Monday morning.
Document: CMC letter to IG re Fort Collins CBOC
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