VA Scandal: Twelve Key Quotes From This Year of Turmoil

by Jerry Shaw, Newsmax

The inadequate treatment of veterans under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs angered Americans across the country. Here are 12 quotes from officials and observers on this scandal that has embroiled President Barack Obama's administration.

“I will not stand for it. There must be consequences.” 
– President Barack Obama vowed following revelations of the VA scandal in May.

“When a veteran is denied health care, we are all dishonored.” When 400,000 veterans are stuck on a waiting list for claims, we need a new sense of urgency in this country.”
– Presidential candidate and then-Sen. Barack Obama, 2007. 

“Under his watch at my own hospital in Atlanta, four of our soldiers committed suicide, and the inspector general of the VA laid the blame directly at the foot of the VA administration.”
– U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, demanding the firing of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki

“Firing Shinseki would suggest he (Obama) was actually taking responsibility, rather than just talking about taking responsibility.” 
– John Kass, Chicago Tribune columnist, on the Barack Obama scandal.

The VA is “socialized medicine that works.” 
– Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner for economics, 2011

The VA represented a single-payer system that offers “better care for more people at far less cost.” 
– Physicians for a National Health Program, 2013

“I am pleased President Obama has finally recognized what we have been telling administration officials for years: that VA’s widespread and systemic lack of accountability is jeopardizing the health of veterans and contributing to all of the department’s most pressing problems.”
– U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, after Obama signed a $17 billion bill to address some of the VA problems. Miller said he hoped it wasn’t just a photo-op.

“If you engage in an unethical practice, if you cover up a serious problem, you should be fired period. It shouldn't be that difficult. And, if you blow the whistle on an unethical practice or bring a problem to the attention of higher-ups, you should be thanked.”
– President Obama, at the signing of the VA bill

“We are expecting (new VA secretary Robert McDonald) to hold his senior leaders accountable. And in turn, that will roll downhill and his senior leaders will then hold midlevel managers accountable who will then hold employees accountable.”
– Louis Celli, legislative director at the American Legion

“Congress will be tempted to wipe their hands of this, go to the Election Day and say ‘we've done our part’ and that’s where groups like ours, Concerned Veterans for America, veterans across the country have to keep the heat on them to say this is just the start. VA is not fixed.”
– Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America

“This has been building for 10 or 15 years. Every crisis is also an opportunity. Fixes are available at the VA, and this is the time to put them in place.”
– Phillip E. Carter, expert on veterans' affairs at Center for a New American Security

“The president just promised $5 billion for terrorists around the world! At West Point! Where he could have used today to say, ‘I’m sorry! For the pain that I’ve caused you, the families! And I’m going to fix it today!’”
– Montel Williams, talk show host and 22-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy 

VETERANS AFFAIRS: "A Higher Calling"

Bob

On Oct. 14, the newly appointed Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald will engage the students, faculty, and staff at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing with a talk titled "Veterans Affairs: A Higher Calling."

Secretary McDonald will discuss the VA's noble mission to serve its clients, veterans, and their families. He will also share information about clinical, research, and leadership career opportunities for nurses and physicians at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

(Webmaster: WE NEED THE BEST! CHALLENGE THE VA WITH YOUR OWN SERVICE!)

President's Executive Orders Address Veterans' Issues

Speaking today at the American Legion's 2014 National Convention, President Obama announced nineteen steps he is taking through executive orders to address the ongoing scandal in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unfortunately, nothing was mentioned about the claims or appeals process. (CLICK for complete speech)

Yesterday, the VA itself released an Inspector General report which indicates no deaths can be positively attributed to the delays in patient care in Phoenix, despite whistle-blower allegations.

Among the key points in the President's orders are:

• A new recruiting campaign to fill shortages of doctors and nurses at VA hospitals.

• Automatically enrolling military personnel receiving mental health care into mental health treatment programs by the VA.

• A partnership with five national banks to help veterans get lower rate mortgages easier.

• New efforts to better understand traumatic brain injuries, including a $34.4 million VA suicide prevention study involving 1800 veterans at 29 VA hospitals, and more suicide prevention training for military and VA personnel.

• Automatic enrollment of separating service personnel in transition programs.

In recent weeks the VA has also trumpeted grants for homeless veterans throughout the country, dedicating millions towards this serious need.

The VA scandal erupted in April when a retired doctor at the VA hospital in Phoenix disclosed that long wait times may have contributed to the deaths of as many as 40 veterans. A preliminary investigation found that delays and falsified records were widespread through the VA system.

The President assured the Legionnaires, "We are going to fix what is wrong. We are going to do right by you and your families, and that is a solid pledge and commitment I’m making to you here.”

The American Legion has long been a supporter of C-123 veterans' Agent Orange exposure claims, for which we continue to express our gratitude.

We're No Better Off

VA Mess a Failure in Management

Had Army friends visit Monday evening...had to be on our best behavior and remember this former Ranger would rather eat snakes than the tuna steaks we offered. Good, old friends. Last Thursday had my 14th surgery since leaving Active Duty.

VA Hospital Scandal, Above All, Is
a Failure of Management by Victor Lipman, Forbes

I’ve followed with grim interest the VA hospital scandal and it seems to me a failure of many things.  Underlying the preventable deaths for patients awaiting care, the endless waiting times for appointments, and the army of veterans (40,000+) who requested appointments and never got them, are multiple failures.  There are failures of government, failures of bureaucracy, failures of communication and failures to care for our veterans – who of course deserve far better.  But at its core I’d argue that this medical train wreck is, above all, a failure of management.

Always interested in management performance, I was struck in particular in this instance by the vast disconnect between the perceived performances of the VA hospital system as a whole and the individuals who are managing the system.   According to the macro-level VA data – the preventable deaths, the chronic slowness, the overall inefficiency – the system appears broken.  Yet contrast this to the consistently glowing performances of the individuals responsible for managing these failing operations.

According to Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, whose hearings and comments have been widely reported in the media, of the VA’s 470 senior executives none received the two lowest ratings in the five-grade VA evaluation system over the past four years – while approximately 80 percent received the top two grades for being outstanding or fully successful.  The same percentage, around 80 percent, received performance bonuses last year.

Photo: Wikipedia

Simply put, this is Lake Wobegon-style management.  One of the Veterans Committee members, Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), noted wryly that in the VA environment, as humorist Garrison Keillor would say, “all of the children are above average.”

Unfortunately, as shameful and dysfunctional as this sounds, it’s not that wildly different from other management data that is out there.  Harvard Business Review has reported a study indicating that  46 percent of high-level managers perform poorly at holding people accountable.   A Towers Watson study showed that 24 percent of companies awarded bonuses to employees “who fail to meet even the lowest possible performance ranking.”

In short, effective management is plenty difficult – laden with conflict, confrontation and hard painful decisions.   It’s much easier to avoid them than deal directly with them.

But dealing with them, after all, is the job of management.

The VA scandal has saddened me on a personal level as well.   Throughout the early and mid-1990s, I had considerable interaction with the VA system, as my father, a World War II veteran, was in and out of VA hospitals frequently during the final years of his life.  Back then the VA system worked.  We never had trouble getting my father into a facility when he needed it, and the care he received always seemed high quality.   We were grateful for the VA hospitals.  They provided a safety net for those who needed it – and a functional one.

Clearly, in the ensuing years, as Joseph Heller might have said, “Something Happened.”    The VA system I follow in headlines today bears no resemblance to the one I knew two decades ago.

I don’t know exactly what happened.   But one thing I do know is that management plays a vital role in any operation’s integrity and long-term sustainability.   And management needs the fortitude to make hard decisions when required:  to call a spade a spade, to acknowledge problems when they exist, to hold people accountable for fixing them, to remove people when they’re not doing the job, and at all times to communicate honestly and take corrective actions when needed.

In the absence of such candor, management life will be pleasant and conflict-free while it lasts.  But it won’t last.