GAO: VA is an “at risk” agency

So, this isn’t really news, because it’s nothing that you didn’t already know, but at least some people outside our little group (the 1%) are starting to pay attention at how screwed up the Department of Veterans’ Affairs really is and that the culture of failure runs deep inside the agency;

While the VA chief says his agency is turning around, two federal auditors have issued new reports blasting the VA health system for huge gaps in oversight, serious management issues and IT failures that put facilities “at risk of not fulfilling their mission.”

The auditors voiced their concerns during a hearing this past week before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where they explained why the VA’s health system was placed on the Government Accountability Office’s annual “high risk list” that flags the most troubled federal programs.

“Risks to the timeliness, cost-effectiveness, quality and safety of veterans’ healthcare, along with other persistent weaknesses GAO and others have identified in recent years, raised serious concerns about VA’s management and oversight of its healthcare system,” GAO Healthcare Director Debra Draper said.

[…]

John Daigh, the assistant inspector general for the VA echoed Draper’s concerns before the committee: “Too often management decisions compromise the most important mission of providing veterans with quality healthcare.”

They can’t do simple things like get an information system that talks to the Department of Defense information systems to exchange veterans’ records when they leave the active force. My problems with VA aren’t the doctors – the doctors, all of the ones with whom I’ve had contact, really do care. The problems are with the drones who stand between me and my care. For example, the Prosthetic Department at Martinsburg VA hospital won’t do simple things like answer their phones and return voice mail messages. The problem in that department goes from the boss on down.

If on the off-chance that I do get through, they don’t offer information. If I don’t know exactly which questions I should ask, they don’t offer information related to my questions. They have plenty of things that they can’t do, but they won’t offer alternative things that they can do. That’s why you need a VSO to sift through all of the bullshit for you. But, the Prosthetic Department of the Martinsburg VA hospital won’t even return the calls of my VSO advocate. I could tell you stories.

The culture of the bureaucracy won’t change until they start firing hard and deep.

Category: Veterans' Affairs Department