WASHINGTON — A top federal investigator has identified “a troubling pattern of deficient patient care” at Veterans Affairs facilities around the country that she says was pointed out by whistle-blowers but downplayed by the department.
The problems went far beyond the extraordinarily long wait time for some appointments — and the attempts to cover them up — that has put the department under intense scrutiny.
In a letter Monday to President Barack Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel cited canceled appointments with no follow-up, drinking water contaminated with the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, and improper handling of surgical equipment and supplies.
Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said he had launched a departmental review to be completed within 14 days. “I am deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistle-blowers, but also in the failures within VA to take whistle-blower complaints seriously,” he said in a statement.
