Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following last week:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Murray Press Office
Tuesday, September 09, 2014 (202) 224-2834
VETERANS: Murray Questions New VA Secretary on Department’s Culture and Accountability
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) –
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, attended a hearing with Secretary Robert
McDonald and Acting Inspector General Richard Griffin focusing on the
state of health care at the Department of Veterans
Affairs. Senator Murray discussed the long wait times for primary and
specialty care within the Puget Sound Health Care System as well as the
wait times for new mental health care patients in Spokane.
WATCH Senator Murray question
Secretary McDonald
and Acting Inspector General Griffin.
Senator Murray’s full opening remarks:
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing.
“I
would like to start by thanking Acting Inspector General Richard
Griffin and the Department’s Office of Inspector General for all the
work they did in conducting
this review.
“Your investigators and staff put together an incredibly important report on what happened at Phoenix.
“Completing the other investigations, at nearly 100 medical centers, is an enormous task.
“So I want to thank the OIG for the incredible dedication it will take to get the job done.
“After
many years of making critical contributions to veterans care and
benefits, the IG rightly has a reputation of being objective, reliable
and thorough in their
work.
“Your findings will be vitally important to ensuring veterans across the country get the care they demand and deserve.
“I
appreciate how Secretary McDonald has hit the ground sprinting in his
new role and have taken immediate steps to get veterans off of
wait-lists and into care.
“And
while the VA’s latest data continues to show patient accessibility
improving across the Department, I am still concerned about some of the
facilities in my home
state of Washington.
“Veterans
receiving primary and specialty care within the Puget Sound Health Care
System continue to wait longer than national averages for primary and
specialty care…
“At Spokane, new mental health care patients wait over twice as long – 75 days – for their appointments.
“This must change.
“As
VA continues to focus on providing veterans with timely access to care,
it must also ensure veterans receive the highest quality of care.
“And as the IG’s report showed, that was all too often not the case at Phoenix.
“The IG found that the Phoenix Health Care System struggled with many basic quality of care issues like leaving
routine physical examinations and evaluations incomplete or failing to conduct them at all; releasing mental
health care patients before their medications were properly stabilized; and struggling to provide dedicated
mental health care providers to patients.
“When we are talking about caring for our nation’s heroes and their families, we expect excellence.
“And
as I have said repeatedly -- as transparency and accountability
increase at the VA, so will the investigations and reports of additional
concerns requiring even
more action from the VA, the Administration, and Congress.
“So today, I want to hear how VA will address the findings of the IG, the VA access audit, and the White House’s review.
“In addition, I’d like to hear how the VA will implement the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act.
“Yesterday, we heard the Secretary speak about VA recommitting itself to its core values.
“Today,
we need to know how the Secretary will turn those commitments into real
action, and to improved care for our nation’s heroes.”
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Meghan Roh
Press Secretary | New Media Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Mobile: (202) 365-1235
Office: (202) 224-2834
@PattyMurray |
@SenateBudget |
@MegRoh