I can think of no better way to honor America's heroes than providing top notch care for the rest of their lives:
"VA chief vows renewed focus on customer service" by Matthew Daly | Associated Press November 11, 2014
WASHINGTON — On the eve of Veterans Day, the Veterans Affairs Department revealed a reorganization Monday designed to make it easier for veterans to gain access to the department and its maze-like websites.
?????
VA Secretary Robert McDonald called the restructuring the largest in the department’s history and said it will bring a singular focus on customer service to an agency that serves 22 million veterans.
That's gross. They aren't "customers."
‘‘As VA moves forward, we will judge the success of all our efforts against a single metric: the outcomes we provide for veterans,’’ McDonald said. The VA’s mission is to care for veterans, ‘‘so we must become more focused on veterans’ needs,’’ he said.
What was the focus then?
As part of the restructuring, the VA will hire a chief customer service officer and simplify the way it is organized to deliver health care and other services, McDonald said.
For instance, McDonald, a former chief executive of consumer-goods giant Procter & Gamble, has been pushing to refocus the VA on customer service since taking over the troubled agency in July, following a scandal about long patient wait times for veterans seeking health care and widespread falsification of records by VA employees and managers to cover up the delays.
That explains the way he views things.
Related:
"Argentine authorities have accused the household products giant Procter & Gamble Co. of tax fraud and suspended its operations in the country. The AFIP tax agency released a statement accusing the company of fraud related to imports from Brazil that it said were billed through a Swiss subsidiary for $138 million. The agency said the alleged operations were to get currency out of the country and hide taxable income. There was no immediate comment from Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, whose brands include Gillette, a Boston company. ‘‘Global companies can’t manage their profits tricking the state, evading taxes and moving currency out of the country because their irregular behaviors impede the development of the nation,’’ said AFIP head Ricardo Echegaray."
Yeah, McDonald is the perfect guy to clean up corruption at the VA!
Pfffft!
McDonald has been urging VA employees to refer to veterans as customers and to refer to him as ‘‘Bob,’’ rather than ‘‘Secretary.’’ He also has given out his cellphone number to reporters and veterans alike and urged them to call him with questions and suggestions.
You know where you can shove the public relations, "Bob."
The VA has been under intense scrutiny since a whistleblower reported that dozens of veterans might have died while awaiting treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital and that appointment records were manipulated to hide the delays.
So that bonuses and promotions would be on time.
A report by the department’s inspector general said workers falsified wait lists while their supervisors looked the other way or even directed it, resulting in chronic delays for veterans seeking care and bonuses for managers who appeared to meet on-time goals.
What that basically shows is the entire federal government is nothing more than a corrupt entity with leeches serving themselves.
If they have infected the VA....
The inspector general’s office identified 40 patients who died while awaiting appointments in Phoenix but said officials could not ‘‘conclusively assert’’ that the delays caused the deaths.
I'm sure it didn't help.
Some members of Congress have disputed the report and suggested that language casting doubt on the link between the delays and the patient deaths was inserted at the suggestion of top VA officials in Washington. The IG’s office has denied that claim.
Three high-ranking officials at the Phoenix facility have been placed on leave while they appeal a department decision to fire them. Four other high-ranking executives around the country were targeted for removal, but only one was fired.
Where is the accountability?
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Related: For disabled Vietnam War vet, VA heartache
Also see:
Events: Cities and towns to celebrate Veterans Day
Remembering the Greatest Generation on Veterans Day
Medal of Honor recipient still saving lives
Old Army trucks find a home — and triage
Brockton to rededicate memorial for local veteran killed in WWII
LGBT group to march in Boston’s Veterans Day Parade for first time
Lost Purple Heart returned to N.Y. soldier’s family
Ethel Kennedy to be awarded Medal of Freedom
No disrespect to veterans intended; however, I'm tired of the ceaseless war worship built upon lies.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
From the line of fire to life sciences: Helping veterans find a career path
WWII veteran, 92, fought ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
Veterans decry theft of flag from WWII memorial
Speaking of thefts:
At Veterans Day event, Patrick commits $2m to war memorial
I'm all for celebrity, but....
FURTHER UPDATE:
"VA fires embattled director of Pittsburgh hospital network" by Joe Mandak | Associated Press November 14, 2014
PITTSBURGH — The Department of Veterans Affairs has fired the director of the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System a month after officials determined she committed unspecified ‘‘conduct unbecoming a senior executive’’ and wasteful spending.
The director, Terry Gerigk Wolf, had been on paid leave since June after a VA review of a Legionnaire’s disease outbreak between February 2011 and November 2012. At least six Pittsburgh VA patients died and 16 were sickened by the bacterial disease, which was traced to water treatment problems at the Pittsburgh-area hospitals.
The VA said in a statement that Wolf’s firing after seven years heading the Pittsburgh health system ‘‘underscores the VA’s commitment to hold leaders accountable and get veterans the care they need.’’
Wolf is the fourth senior executive at VA to be removed under a new law that gives VA Secretary Robert McDonald authority to streamline the firing of poor-performing executives by shortening the time for dealing with appeals. Two of the officials were allowed to retire.
Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, accused the VA of dragging its feet, noting that Wolf was first targeted for removal Oct. 3 but was not fired until Thursday.
‘‘Given that Wolf’s firing comes two years after the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Legionnaires’ disease outbreak ended, it’s obvious VA had no interest in holding her accountable initially and was only driven to this point after intense congressional and media scrutiny,’’ Miller said in a statement.
He said the VA has ‘‘rewarded’’ other figures involved in the outbreak, including Wolf’s supervisor, Michael Moreland, who collected a $63,000 bonus, which prompted congressional hearings. The VA recently promoted Wolf’s deputy, David Cord, to director of the VA’s Erie, Pa., hospital, which serves veterans in northwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and southwestern New York.
The VA said the push to remove Wolf follows an inquiry by its Office of Accountability Review. It would not say whether that push was related to the outbreak and never specified any allegations.
Wolf could not immediately be located for comment Thursday. Pittsburgh VA spokesman Mark Ray said the local network had nothing to add to the department’s announcement.
The Pittsburgh VA’s chief medical officer, David MacPherson, was named interim director. New rules were enacted after a nationwide scandal on veterans waiting too long for medical care or being kept on secret waiting lists so area VA directors would not be penalized if key deadlines were not met. Eric Shinseki resigned as VA secretary in May.
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This government is rotted from head to toe, back to front.
