Veterans Affairs Administrator David Shulkin is still reeling from reports that he and his wife took advantage of taxpayer money during a business trip in Europe last year. That work trip included some sightseeing and a trip to the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Shulkin insists it was all on the level and that the tickets were handed to him by a family friend.
He now has bigger problems. A new Inspector General report that came out Wednesday suggests that he has done little to address the widespread problems at the agency.
The report reveals, in part, how 500,000 items were not properly inventoried at the DC VA Medical Center and patients endured long waits for prosthetics. One veteran had to wait a whole year for a limb, according to NBC 4 News.
Worse yet, administrators knew about it.
Scathing report about problems at DC VA Medical Ctr. Inspector General: “Personnel were aware of many of the problems identified in this report, and did not ensure that adequate corrective action had been taken by the Medical Center to address them.”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 7, 2018
Shulkin addressed the management issues at the DC Medical Center and indicated a new nationwide restructuring plan is in the works, but it is too late for some critics who are demanding his resignation.
In his remarks, the VA secretary claimed the poor conditions at the D.C. center came as a "surprise."
VA Secretary David Shulkin says findings of mismanagement, unsanitary conditions at DC VA Medical Center were “surprise”, “wasn’t warned”. Internal inspection said reports and warnings go back as far as 2013
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 7, 2018
Concerned Veterans for America is outraged at yet another damning report about the VA.
“This is yet another disgraceful instance of a VA medical center not only failing to provide safe, reliable care to patients, but also failing to address it for months and years on end," Executive Director Dan Caldwell said in a statement Wednesday. "As in other cases, staff on the ground also failed to report many of the safety lapses or tried to downplay. Worse, VA officials received reports of these lapses and did nothing for years.
"This case is exactly why we our grassroots army is working every day to pass legislation to expand health care choices for veterans.”