Baldwin Park Democrat
Retired General Shinseki has his work cut out for him as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, particularly in the area of Veterans hospitals and facilities.
An Associated Press article reports that the full extent of dirty equipment at VA hospitals is still not known. Several months ago nearly 11,000 Veterans treated at three Veterans Affairs hospitals in the Southeast were notified that they could be infected with HIV, Hepatitis and other diseases because of the reuse of unsterilized and dirty equipment. Unfortunately, the Veterans have not been told much more than that.
More seriously is the length of time that this problem has existed. In two of the three hospitals the problems with the way that equipment is cleaned has been going on for five years; in the other hospital the problem has existed for at least a year. This would seem to indicate that the problem could well be systemic throughout the Department.
This is not a new problem. There have been horror stories over the years within the Veterans community about the story state of VA hospitals. To be fair, these stories are often intermixed with stories of positive experiences at the hospitals. But that notwithstanding, serious problems exist at these hospitals, whether from lack of adequate funding, lack of adequate oversight and control, or a combination of the two. These problems need to be forcefully addressed now.
Our Veterans deserve better.
Secretary Shinseki should take immediate action to
* investigate and fully disclose to Veterans and to the public the current state of Veterans hospitals and facilities
* develop and implement a plan to correct the deficiencies found and to prevent such deficiencies from happening in the future
* ensure that disciplinary action is taken against those responsible for the deficiencies
* direct the VA Inspector General to conduct unannounced inspections of Veterans hospitals and facilities on an ongoing basis
* strongly lobby Congress and the Administration to make funding available to correct existing deficiencies and to fully fund all Veteran hospitals and facilities in the future
Nothing less should be acceptable in supporting our Veterans.