Charlotte, NC – A new Office of Inspector General (OIG) healthcare inspection report substantiates surgical service concerns at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Improper preoperative evaluations occurred from 2014 to 2015, which caused preventable surgical delays and cancellations, according to the report. Even worse, patient deaths occurring within thirty days of surgery were not reported or reviewed by the required oversight groups.
In April, a report released from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that veterans newly enrolled at the Fayetteville VA were waiting on average between three and 10 weeks for primary care appointments.
Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) North Carolina State Director John Byrnes issued the following statement:
“Surgical delays due to VA negligence are unacceptable for North Carolina veterans, who sacrificed their lives for this country. Right now, it’s next to impossible to fire incompetent employees at the VA. Fortunately, there are reforms on the table right now that would prevent this kind of sloppiness in the future. Congress should move quickly to pass the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act, which would make it easier to terminate employees who aren’t performing adequately.”
Byrnes is a patient of the Fayetteville VA and has experienced difficulty there in the past. “It took over 6 months to get my first appointment despite being in pain,” he writes on www.MyVAStory.org, a new project launched by CVA to give veterans a voice in Washington.
CVA supports the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act, which would make it easier to fire bad employees who aren’t doing their job to ensure veterans receive timely and quality care.
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