Will the Phoenix VA hospitals former director Sharon Helman be held accountable?

[Cyberdave]

Stan is correct and I want to thank that reporter for keeping up the pressure.

[skp51443]

Been away from the net for a few days so I'll post several updates together here.

 

 

Helman faces a legal battle in lawsuit to regain VA job

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/05/06/helman-faces-legal-battle-lawsuit-regain-va-job/26967435/

 

 

Arizona cases among unreleased VA investigations

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/05/01/arizona-cases-among-unreleased-va-investigations/26721361/

 

 

Lawsuit blames Phoenix VA hospital for veteran's suicide

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/05/10/lawsuit-blames-phoenix-va-hospital-veteran-gene-spencer-suicide/27057179/

 

 

Veteran kills self in parking lot of Phoenix VA office

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/05/13/veteran-kills-self-phoenix-va-office-parking-lot/27222061/

 

 

 

No end in sight, the bad folks are fighting tooth and nail to hang on until something else distracts our attention and they can go back on their gravy train.

[Cyberdave]

Thanks Stan. Did you read Derek's post? The gravy train just keeps rolling along.

[champ_49]

Thank you all who are keeping us informed on all of this. One thing I do know is that politicians have ruined the VA and in a lot of cases our country. It is up to us to make that change. We vote them in, and we can vote them out. It just seems that everyone anymore has only there own agenda and is blind to everything else!

 

Also not only politicians, but clean out the VA and put new blood in there that wants to work for more then there own self.

 

 

Vets should be held to the same standards of all people. We are not asking for anything more than what we deserve.

 

Dave

[skp51443]

Not Phoenix, but another VA scam that is making the paper pushers and their buddies rich while leaving the veterans with nothing.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/politics/2015/05/15/congress-vents-over-budget-denver-va-hospital-colorado/27414705/

 

 

Nobody (in power) really wants to fix this mess, too much free money for some and lots of easy votes for others. All the vets see is smoke and mirrors.

[skp51443]

Another page in the Phoenix scandal, read the full article at the link.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/05/24/phoenix-va-bosses-mired-personal-conflicts/27724253/

 

 

The top financial officer at Phoenix's VA medical center says she's been subjected to sexual allegations, racial smears, bogus investigations and her office searched as part of a two-year harassment campaign by rival administrators.

In an Arizona Republic interview, sworn testimony and whistleblower complaints to several federal agencies, Chief Financial Officer Tonja Laney characterized the Veterans Health Administration as an ethically bankrupt organization roiling with corruption and internecine conflicts.

Testifying under oath last June, Laney ripped the culture and leadership in Arizona's VA health-care system, saying the stress at one point led her to attempt suicide.

"Phoenix is the most dysfunctional place I have ever been in my life," she said, referring to the veterans medical center. "It is very toxic. ... It's an environment of harassment. It is an environment of lack of accountability.

"If you report things that occur, you know you run the risk of being retaliated against ... You do whatever it takes in those circumstances to survive. And that's Phoenix."

[wa_desert_rat]

I'm not all that surprised that some vets working for VA are a$$holes. We all met self-serving a$$holes when we were in the military and it's only logical that afterwards they'd find ways to maintain the same attitude. The BIA is another example... native Americans working against other native Americans.

 

Once the management sector of an agency becomes corrupt, only corrupt employees will get promoted.

 

I'm not so sure the politicians are to blame, actually. They can issue threats, pass legislation but the culture makes it difficult to get anything done. Lawsuits for "unfair dismissal" clog the works. How do you fire an employee who has never received a bad performance review? I can see the argument now, "Your honor... my client's performance was rated "outstanding" in every respect for the past seven years, why are they suddenly saying he is not competent?"

 

We just managed to get rid of our City Manager - who would have been out of office years ago if he were elected - by paying him $250,000 in "severance" because the City Council had never - in 27 years - given him a performance review. In fact, the town moguls actually conspired to get rid of one councilman who tried to change that. We finally managed to get rid of enough pals of the manager to get rid of him. Two more to go.

 

A local bus driver was dismissed for cause and got a lawyer and got reinstated because reinstatement was cheaper than litigation. Even if they won. Again, poor record keeping. Kids put at risk.

 

We all hate this but we've all seen it. It's a cultural thing now and no politician - or group of politicians - will be able to stop it.

 

It's up to us.

 

WDR

[skp51443]

Another snip of a longer article showing the lengths the criminals at the Phoenix VA were willing to go to to cover up their actions.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/05/25/phoenix-va-staff-internal-strife/27729977/

 

 

In late November 2013, Tonja Laney, the chief financial officer at Phoenix VA medical center, discovered evidence that some employees in the Human Resources Department may have improperly received student loans.

Months later, records show, Laney uncovered "timekeeping irregularities" in the same department.

Both issues arose under the supervision of Human Resources Director Maria Schloendorn at a time when investigators with the VA Office of Inspector General were swarming Phoenix because doctors reported that 40 patients had died while awaiting doctor appointments in a fraudulent record-keeping system.

By early May of last year, Phoenix VA Health Care System's top bosses — Sharon Helman, Lance Robinson and Brad Curry — were on paid suspension amid investigation of the wait-time scandal. Two weeks later, Laney gave a sworn interview to OIG investigators.

That testimony covered accusations of sexual misconduct made against her. It also covered information on the wait-times scandal, as well as the alleged financial irregularities in Human Resources.

The next day, Laney was escorted from her office by VA police. She had become the target of a new fact-finding probe, but she was not told of any specific charges.

According to VA investigative records provided by Laney, Schloendorn ordered a search of Laney's office. In a subsequent whistleblower complaint, Laney said the Human Resources director was concerned about Laney's testimony to OIG investigators. She described the search as a "witch hunt" that went "beyond unethical."

Laney was interrogated by VA police officer Robert Mueller, records show, then reassigned to work in the VA Quality Management Office for about three months without any duties.

While banished, she was subjected to an internal probe about rumors that she'd engaged in a sexual "threesome" with other VA employees in her office. Those same allegations had been investigated and dismissed at least twice previously.

[Cyberdave]

After awhile, you almost become numb... then angry and finally you have to wonder why the VA hasn't gone in and cleaned house? Wouldn't it be better for them to get rid of this cancer themselves? But, they have made the upper echelon pretty bullet proof. Where is the freaking justice dept.?

 

The sad and sickening part is that if you bring it up among'st those that have never served you might get a cursory nod or comment but you see the shoulder shrug in their eyes... It's an oh well, doesn't effect me.

[skp51443]

Same old can, just more worms...

 

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/06/04/new-issues-phoenix-va/28510395/

 

 

Two inspections released Thursday found nearly two dozen new problems at the Phoenix VA Health Care System and its outpatient clinics in Arizona.

The most serious issues in the VA's Office of Inspector General reports involve a lack of testing given to stroke patients, a lack of reporting potential complications prior to MRIs, a lack of diagnostic testing for those with positive alcohol screens and a lack of routine testing for HIV.

The Phoenix VA, which has been under a storm of controversy for more than a year, agreed with all the findings in the two inspections and said it would fix most of the problems by the end of the year. Some of the problems have already been fixed.

"We agreed with the findings and have an action plan in place to address the shortcomings," said Jean Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix VA Health Care System

 

 

More recently, the audits found:

– Clinicians did not document the completion of stroke scales, which is an exam used to objectively quantify the impairment caused by a stroke, for 95 percent of applicable stroke patients.

– None of the files of 30 applicable stroke patients contained documentation that the clinicians provided stroke education to the patients or caregivers.

– The files for 45 percent of applicable MRI patients did not contain documentation that a level 2 MRI employee or radiologist addressed all the potential "contraindications" prior to an MRI. Contraindications are potential harmful effects of medicine, procedures or surgeries when used in combination.

– At the VA's southeast outpatient clinic in Gilbert, staff did not complete diagnostic assessments for 79 percent of the patients who had a positive alcohol screen.

– At the southeast outpatient clinic, 84 percent of patients were not provided HIV testing, which the VA recommends as part of routine medical care for patients.

 

Time to slap a few more wrists and issue a firm "Naughty, naughty!" to all the VA staff involved, anything harsher is certainly uncalled for... Right?

[Cyberdave]

You know Stan, someday you'll make a post with a link to a massacre at the Phoenix VA and I wouldn't blame him her. I am just (insert every swear word a sailor knows here) fed up with the whole thing. The reporter that is keeping the heat on should be recognized for his tenacity.

[skp51443]

It looks like the whistle blowing bunch is getting fed up with the smoke and mirrors approach to fixing the VA issues and are banding together to try to get to the root of the corruption. Really hard to do any real house cleaning when you are fighting civil service rules that pretty much say you can't be fired for most problems and the folks in charge don't want to admit what was done and file criminal charges.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/06/11/va-whistleblowers-unite-push-reforms/71075892/

 

 

Whistleblowers from Veterans Affairs medical facilities across the country, including several from Arizona, are banding together to keep pressure on the VA to fix the agency, protect whistleblowers and improve veteran patient care.

The group, VA Truth Tellers,has a Facebook page, an email group and plans for several members to speak at a whistleblower panel in Washington next month. Their ranks include roughly two dozen current and former VA employees from medical centers in Arizona and nine other states that serve more than 600,000 veterans annually.

"I think that all of us coming together will send a message," said Germaine Clarno, a social worker at the Hines VA Hospital near Chicago. "The message is, 'VA, you've got to change.'"

Individually, they have blown the whistle on manipulated patient wait times and mismanaged care of suicidal veterans in Phoenix; secret appointment wait lists in Shreveport, La.; malfeasance in Montgomery and Tuskegee, Ala.; and poor veteran care in Wilmington, Del.

They reported veterans were being subjected to unnecessary heart surgeries at the Hines VA Hospital and prescribed dangerous amounts of drugs in Tomah, Wis. In many cases, the problems they exposed led to injuries and even death.

Now, the whistleblowers say they want the public to know the taxpayer-funded VA is still riddled with dysfunction almost a year after VA Secretary Robert McDonald took over the agency following the resignation of his predecessor amid the Phoenix wait-time scandal.

"You can put all this paint and wallpaper on it, but it's the same," said Shea Wilkes, a mental health social worker at the Shreveport VA who helped organize the whistleblowers' group.

"I don't think the VA central office wants all the problems to be identified because that would cause such a public outcry that someone would have to be removed from their position," said Dr. Katherine Mitchell, a former emergency room physician and whistleblower at the Phoenix VA who now works in the VA's southwest regional office.

 

 

 

But the whistleblowers say change isn't happening fast enough. Members of the group, which includes doctors, nurses, social workers and administrators, say issues they exposed are still ongoing, including lengthy and manipulated wait lists for veteran health care, mismanagement, short-staffing and negligent care.

And they say there is little hope of uncovering and fixing the litany of problems, because even with new leaders at VA medical centers across the country, many of the managers and supervisors who ignored or failed to fix problems before are still in their jobs.

"Until the VA starts terminating the bad actors, everything else is just fluff around the edges and accomplishes nothing," said Ryan Honl, who exposed the opiate problems in Tomah, Wis.

And among the bad actors, they say, are supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers like them, a practice that scares others from coming forward. Whistleblowers say VA managers have re-assigned them to do-nothing jobs, launched investigations of them and confiscated their computers, among other tactics.

Whistleblower Sheila Meuse, who retired from her job as assistant director of the Central Alabama VA Health Care System earlier this year because of retaliation, believes the VA is afflicted with "a huge disease process" that requires a different approach than the leadership is currently taking.

"It's almost like … if you're diabetic or something, and you have a problem with your toe healing, all they're doing is worrying about healing their toe," Meuse said.

[bigjim]

What is frustrating is the good ones at the VA are taking the hits. It seems like no politician is taking a hit except from the opposite party that is trying to get elected or stay in power. I see a device manager at the Albq. VA that goes out of his way to do good work but soon I will have to deal again with the nurse who thinks it is no big deal to give the wrong shot or lose paperwork 3 times or admit she won't do a phone call.

[skp51443]

Now this on the farming out vets to private care facilities.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/politics/2015/07/02/va-inspectors-private-care-referral-delays-costs-overruns/29632717/

 

 

Inspectors for the Department of Veterans Affairs say a community-referral program designed to make private medical treatment available for veterans is plagued by delays in care, improper patient scheduling practices, cost overruns and other problems.

The findings make it clear that former military personnel who have suffered stress and medical complications because of delayed treatment in VA medical centers are now encountering the same problems when they get referred by the VA for private care.

The Patient-Centered Community Care program, known as PC3, was created to provide outside treatment for veterans when VA medical facilities are too busy or do not have needed services. Instead, the 35-page report says the program has "caused patient care delays" and "is not achieving its intended purpose to provide veterans timely access."

Those scathing conclusions are based on research at nine VA medical centers nationwide, including facilities in Phoenix, Tucson and Prescott. The Office of Inspector General also focused on the Veterans Integrated Service Network 18, the VA's Gilbert-based oversight office for health care in the Southwest.

The new report adds to a 15-month crisis of leadership and operations at the VA caused by revelations of delayed and inappropriate medical services, mismanagement, financial problems and other problems. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned amid controversy last year and interim Inspector General Richard Griffin retired under pressure this week.

According to the report, VA contractors routinely engaged in "blind scheduling" — setting up appointments without first discussing the date with patients who might not be available. Because of that practice and other issues, about 43,500 of the 106,000 doctor visits that were authorized either did not get scheduled or were never carried out.

The PC3 system is so problematic that every VA leader interviewed by inspectors had cut back or completely stopped use of the program. As a result, the report says, VA costs increased dramatically because expected savings were based on patient volume.

[Cyberdave]

Same is pretty true in Harlingen. You have to get vouchers to get care from specialists not on staff there and some Dr's have left the program due to late payments and the same scheduling issues.

[StarDreamers.us]

So why is the President not talking about this issue? Why must our VETS be treated this way? The elected officials did not have a problem asking and requiring that many of us make major changes in our future plans to bail out their POOR decision making. Many of us were promised things that they are NOW not honoring! We need to make major changes.

 

 

Safe Travels!

[skp51443]

Same old noises but no real housecleaning yet.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/07/19/va-undersecretary-david-shulkin-vows-change-phoenix-visit/30398961/

 

 

During a visit to the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center on Friday, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ newly appointed undersecretary for health promised to improve care for patients and create a culture of integrity within a federal agency that serves 9 million former military personnel.

“The No. 1 overall goal is to restore the confidence and trust of veterans in this system,” Undersecretary David Shulkin told The Arizona Republic in an exclusive interview.

 

 

Members of Congress, veterans advocates and whistleblowers keep asking about Phoenix’s associate director Lance Robinson, and Health Administration Services Chief Brad Curry, both of whom have been under investigation and on paid leave almost since the scandal broke 15 months ago. What’s up with that?

My understanding about this is we are waiting for an OIG (Office of Inspector General) report to come back. ... I am eager to see that the situation comes to a conclusion.

 

 

New VA scandals seem to pop up almost daily. How can you deal with those issues and stay focused on the larger mission of serving veterans?

I recognize I’m entering the VA at a time when the status quo just cannot continue. My biggest concern is that the people around me spend all their time on the crisis of the day and not being able to implement sustainable change. ... Ten days into the job, I can’t tell you I have it figured out.

[skp51443]

And another stellar pick for the VA watchdog... Bark, bark, bark! Barf, barf, barf!

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/30/whistleblowers-blast-new-va-watchdog/30904897/

 

 

WASHINGTON -- Current and former Veterans Affairs employees who blew the whistle on poor health care at VA facilities came face-to-face with the agency's new chief watchdog for the first time at a Senate hearing Thursday.

The whistleblowers were not impressed.

"I was incredibly disappointed to the point of being horrified," said Dr. Katherine Mitchell, whose actions exposing long patient wait times at the Phoenix VA last year led to the resignation of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

VA Deputy Inspector General Linda Halliday took over the watchdog post July 6 from Richard Griffin, who abruptly retired after whistleblowers accused him of conducting cursory investigations and of targeting them instead of the problems they uncovered.

 

The message is clear to the folks working for the VA, "head down and mouth shut" if you plan on making it to your retirement at the VA.

[Cyberdave]

I'm beginning to think it'll just keep rolling along. There isn't enough outcry from the John Q Public since it only affects vets needing to use the VA. If it was a Medicare issue, it would be non-stop coverage..

[skp51443]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/08/06/va-whistleblower-retaliation-allegation-sworn-statement/31224653/

 

A short snip to get you started:

 

 

A former official at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Phoenix has signed a sworn statement alleging that the hospital’s acting director sought to fire or suspend a mental-health staffer just hours after the employee appeared on a television newscast criticizing VA suicide-prevention efforts.

Laurie Butler, who served as acting human resources officer for the Phoenix VA Health Care System, wrote in an Aug. 3 affidavit that top administrators met on Jan. 13 to discuss options the morning after whistleblower Brandon Coleman complained that suicidal veterans were not being properly handled.

Butler’s declaration says the hospital’s interim director, Glen Grippen, was joined during the meeting by Chief of Staff Darren Deering, VA regional counsel Shelley Cutts and others. According to the statement, Grippen told the group “he wanted to discuss what he could do about Coleman’s actions and asked if it were possible to remove Coleman from employment. At the least, Grippen wanted to know if he could put Coleman on administrative leave.”

The affidavit says Cutts responded that, under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act, Coleman could not be fired for speaking to the media, but he could be removed or suspended for unrelated misconduct.

 

My highlighting here:

 

 

Butler came to Arizona last July as a specialist on employment and labor law amid a national furor sparked by delays in care at the VA hospital on Indian School Road. Her affidavit says she “intended to make sure employees responsible for the scheduling mess were appropriately disciplined or removed,” but was immediately informed that Phoenix VA was operating under a “kinder, gentler” philosophy.

Since the wait-time scandal erupted 15 months ago, no Phoenix employee has been fired in connection with delayed medical appointments or falsified wait-time data.

However, because so many top Human Resources Department leaders quit during the controversy, Butler was promoted in December to acting director of the department. She became ill in February, the affidavit says, and subsequently took disability retirement from the VA.

[skp51443]

Another mention of Phoenix in a longer national article:

 

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/investigations/2015/08/20/va-hospitals-vacancies-long-waits-patients/32065473/

 

 

The Choice Act passed last August also created 10,000 new medical positions to fill, making vacancy figures appear worse, a spokesman said.

But critics say the agency’s hiring practices have mired regional facilities in red tape.

“The whole hiring process is ridiculous,” she said Laurie Butler, who temporarily served as acting chief of Human Resources in Phoenix before retiring last year. There, a quarter of all clinical jobs are vacant, including 218 nurses, 163 medical schedulers and 35 physicians as of mid-July.

According to Phoenix VA spokeswoman Jean Schaefer, the process to hire one person for a clinical position can involve up to 18 steps — from getting approval for the job posting to running credential checks — and can take from four to eight months to complete. By that time, candidates have often accepted a job elsewhere, others said.

“It’s a bureaucratic nightmare,” Tester said. “We do not have to recreate the wheel every time we hire a damn nurse, or psychologist, or a medical director.”

 

 

In Phoenix, Interim VA Health Care System Director Glenn Grippen acknowledged the huge shortage of clinical staff at a press conference in early August, saying it was contributing to veterans' waits. Staffing at the facility, however, has started to rise overall in recent months, he said.

“We’re trying to get more staff to meet the needs of veterans,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but we are working real hard.”

[Cyberdave]

Stan,

Like you said in the other thread... brief new recruits on the whole thing and see how fast they run!

[DJW]

While I agree we do not want to recreate the wheel, I do want to know where Nurse Jane or Dr Who came from and what type of baggage they bring to my health care. Cause you boys know that if Nurse Jane or Dr Who got fired from their last job because of incompetence and the VA hired them without doing a background check and they do harm, you boys are going to bitch about what a poor job the VA does.

 

Dennis

[Cyberdave]

Agreed. Sometimes you wonder....

[skp51443]

Background investigations are important but taking nine months as I think was mentioned is ridiculous.

 

I got my super spook government clearance in about three months and it included a couple FBI agents scaring the pants off a some folks they developed as interviewees from the list of references I'd submitted.

 

I still treasure the rant I got from my preacher's kid. He'd turned into a stoner and had a nice dope farm growing at his apartment when two gentlemen knocked at his door, flashed badges and introduced themselves as FBI agents. They weren't interested in the fumes wafting out the door and he was happy to tell them he hadn't seen me in several years and see them on their way.

 

The head press operator at the paper where I worked was a bit upset too until he realized they didn't want to see his non-existent green card. He wasn't mad at me once they explained I hadn't given them his name.