VA official apologizes for substandard care
Nineteen deaths over the past two years at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in southern Illinois may be linked to substandard care, according to a an investigation that prompted an impassioned apology from a VA official.
The hospital performed surgeries that were beyond the capabilities of its staff and physicians, and then they were slow to respond once problems surfaced, according to Michael Kussman, MD, U.S. Veterans Affairs undersecretary for health in Washington, DC. Kussman commented publicly after releasing findings of the VA's investigation and summarizing a separate probe from the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services.
"I can't tell you how angry we all are and how frustrated we all are," Kussman told reporters. "Nothing angers me more than when we don't do the right thing."
Kussman said, however, that the substandard care provided at the Marion Veterans Administration Medical Center was not typical of the VA care found across the nation. He said the VA will help affected families seek compensation, either through claims against the U.S. government or with the VA's disability compensation program.
The VA investigation found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March of last year were "directly attributable" to substandard care at the Marion hospital, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana, and western Kentucky.
Kussman said inpatient surgeries will remain suspended indefinitely at the Marion hospital. They have not been performed at the facility since problems first became public in August 2007. The next month, the VA installed interim administrators to replace the Marion VA's director, chief of staff, chief of surgery, and an anesthesiologist, Kussman said. The VA moved them to other positions or placed them on leave, he said, and those leaders will not return.
The trouble at the Marion VA caught the attention of Congress in November 2007 and prompted lawmakers to call for tighter protocols for hiring doctors and bolster quality control across the nation's VA system. Kussman said the VA has launched an administrative investigatory board to review care issues and matters raised by employee groups.
The investigative report regarding the VA hospital in Marion can be found online at this address: www1.va.gov/health/docs/2007-D-1356Marion.pdf.
Nineteen deaths over the past two years at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in southern Illinois may be linked to substandard care, according to a an investigation that prompted an impassioned apology from a VA official.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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