Dive Brief:
- Shoes continue to drop at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, where the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has booted three more hospital executives.
- The three senior officials were fired for poor performance of duties and failing to provide effective oversight to ensure proper scheduling and wait-listing of patients, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.
- A 2015 report of the VA health system found VA patients’ experience on six of 10 measures was significantly worse than for patients outside the system.
Dive Insight:
Given the boot were the hospital’s association director, Lance Robinson; chief of health administration, Brad Curry; and chief of staff, Darren Deering. All three have the right to appeal
The firings follow the 2014 dismissal of Sharon Helman, the hospital’s former director, and the subsequent removal of three other top officials. The scandal, spurred by long wait lists and patient deaths, also forced out then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. Helman, who pleaded guilty to falsifying federal financial disclosures about annual gifts, was recently sentenced to two years probation.
U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) said the news was long overdue.
“Since the crisis broke, we’ve repeatedly called for the removal of any VA employee who fails to meet the high standards of care our veterans have earned,” she said in a statement. “It’s time for the Senate to pass the VA Accountability Act to hold employees accountable and ensure this never happens again.”
Last year’s independent review was required by the Veterans Choice Act, an emergency funding bill passed in the wake of the VA scandal.