A U.S. Senate committee probe of health care problems at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center in western Wisconsin has turned up "systemic failures" in an inspector general's review of the facility.
A staff report by the Republican majority of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committeereleased Tuesday finds the VA inspector general's office discounted evidence and testimony. The report says the office also needlessly narrowed its inquiry and has no standard for measuring wrongdoing.
"It was the failure of the office of the inspector general," claimed Wisconsin Republican Senator, Ron Johnson.
The report says the office's failure to publish results of an investigation into the Tomah facility "compromised veteran care." It also says a culture of fear and whistleblower retaliation continues at the facility.
"It's making that type of information available to the public, to put pressure on the VA system," said Sen. Johnson.
VA inspectors in 2014 found that doctors were over-prescribing painkillers. The deaths of three patients remain under investigation.
Marvin Simcakoski, the father of one man who died at the hands of doctors at the hospital said, "The bottom line here is we're here to serve the veterans and make the veterans care the best care possible."'
Now leaders making an overhaul from the top down, firing top management positions and hiring new people, in a move that's supported by both sides of the aisle.
"This is an issue on which on a bipartisan basis we are resolved to fix the problems that were revealed at the Tomah VA," said Democratic Senator, Tammy Baldwin.
National leaders making a change from the top down to provide a better system of care for our nation's heroes.
