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SECRETARY NICHOLSON CONTINUES TO DEFEND VA

HEALTHCARE SYSTEM -- Tours private hospital where

vet sought refuge after fearing for his life at VA.

 

 

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Secretary stands pat

VA leader defends health care during Marianjoy visit

By James Fuller
Daily Herald Staff Writer

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson defended the veterans health care system Friday in a private Wheaton hospital that recently served as refuge for an Army sergeant unsatisfied with VA hospital care.

Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital welcomed Sgt. Joel Gomez in 2005 when his family feared he would die if he remained at Hines VA Medical Center in Maywood. Gomez was paralyzed from the neck down when his Army vehicle fell off a cliff in Iraq in 2004.

Nicholson received word of Gomez’s VA fears and Marianjoy care from hospital staff with a sympathetic nod Friday.

Shortly after, he showed similar sympathy for veterans who endured mice, mold and cockroaches while recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post uncovered the squalor in a series of articles last month.

Various government agencies are now reviewing veterans care, including the veterans affairs department, Nicholson said.

“We are under way in evaluating (VA) hospitals to make sure things are getting done the way they’re supposed to be done,” he said. “When these cases occur that aren’t getting done right, that is totally unacceptable. I know the pain that those people are in, anyway, and then to have something fall through the cracks just pains me more.”

Nicholson said he visits Walter Reed regularly but never saw the parts of the facility the Washington Post described.

“Walter Reed has done a fabulous job in treating these wounded men and women,” he said. “They obviously had some problems in parts of Walter Reed that I was not aware of, a lot of people were not aware of, and those conditions were unacceptable.”

The discovery of the Walter Reed filth sparked several personal changes in recent days.

Maj. Gen. George Weightman was removed from overseeing the facility. His predecessor, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley was named as a temporary replacement, though he’s been accused of ignoring complaints about the facility in the past.

Nicholson would not offer his thoughts on the switch.

“That’s out of my bailiwick,” Nicholson said. “I’m very busy running the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Nicholson toured Marianjoy to learn how the private hospital and facilities like it can help the VA treat soldiers with brain injuries and provide care closer to veterans’ homes.

As Nicholson walked the halls, his staff informed him Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned Friday as part of the Walter Reed fallout.

Nicholson said he was surprised by the news.

“Secretary Harvey has done a wonderful job,” Nicholson said.

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Larry Scott  --