Dive Brief:
- The Veterans Affairs Administration booted three more executives from the Phoenix VA Health Care system, the latest fallout from a scandal sparked by lengthy wait lists and patient deaths.
- Two of the executives, who had been placed on leave in May 2014, had recently returned to work, The Sacramento Bee reported.
- An independent report of the VA’s health system, released last year, found patients had, on average, significantly worse experiences on six to 10 measures than patients treated outside the system.
Dive Insight:
Fired were the hospital’s Chief of Staff Darren Deering; Associate Director Lance Robinson; and Chief of Health Administration Services Brad Curry. Under VA rules, they can appeal the decisions.
In a statement, Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said he was “disappointed that it took as long as it did” to terminate the executives, adding the cases had distracted from efforts to improve care in Phoenix and at other VA hospitals across the nation.
The hospital’s former director, Sharon Helman, was fired in 2014 and recently pleaded guilty to falsifying federal financial disclosures about annual gifts. The scandal also forced the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Last year’s review was mandated by the Veterans Choice Act, an emergency funding bill passed after the VA scandal.