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EDITORIAL: VETERANS DESERVE BETTER AT TAMPA VA
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From the St. Petersburg, Florida Times.
Background stories here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfJAN07/nf010507-4.htm
http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%
20newsflashes%20FEB%2006/newsflash02-25-2006-1.htm
And, there are many more...use the Google search box for more on
problems at Tampa VA.
Story here...
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/06/
Opinion/Veterans_deserve_bett.shtml
Story below:
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Veterans deserve better at Haley
A Times Editorial
Removing the boss gets people's attention. But the Department of
Veterans Affairs must do more if it is serious about improving
conditions at Tampa's James A. Haley VA Medical Center.
Two in-house investigations last year found problems across the board at
the nation's busiest veterans hospital. While putting someone new in
charge should help, many of the shortcomings were so basic and
persistent they showed a lack of appreciation of the role Haley plays in
providing health care for nearly a half-million veterans in the region,
including those seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA and
Congress need to monitor Haley and hold its leaders accountable.
The VA announced Wednesday that Haley director Forest Farley Jr. had
been reassigned to the regional office in St. Petersburg. The move
follows two critical reviews by the agency's inspector general, who
found that Haley had problems staffing its operating rooms, failed to
properly maintain patient records and equipment and kept loose controls
on a range of business and administrative affairs. The problems were big
and small and, in some cases, uncorrected for years. Some life-saving
equipment was not properly tested, staff no-shows caused hundreds of
surgical delays and the operating room was insufficient to meet the
heavy patient demand.
Haley is correcting the problems. But many, such as poor record-keeping
and maintenance practices, reflect how tolerant managers had become of
low workplace standards. New managers need to raise the bar, and the VA
should hold this team responsible for changing the workplace culture.
Surprise inspections would not hurt. Veterans in our seven-county area
who rely on Haley deserve to be in capable and conscientious hands.
Haley also is one of only four centers designated to receive those most
severely wounded from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. If an outbreak of
flies can shut down the operating room, what does that say about Haley's
capability to treat soldiers with multiple injuries - bomb blasts to the
head and spine? Congress should keep an eye on Haley and insist on
progress reports.
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Larry Scott
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