Shinseki resigns amid scandal over vets’ health care

Staff/wire report

WASHINGTON

Beset by growing evidence of patient delays and cover- ups, embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned from President Barack Obama’s Cabinet Friday, taking the blame for what he decried as a “lack of integrity” in the sprawling health care system for the nation’s military veterans.

Lawmakers representing the Mahoning Valley and Ohio don’t agree on much, but they said the president’s accepting the resignation was the right thing to do.

“Secretary Shinseki has had a long record of admirable service to our nation, but ultimately he had to take responsibility for the dismal shape of the VA health system,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th.

Ryan added: “There must be accountability when taking care of our veterans. I believe this change in leadership is a crucial step towards righting the egregious incompetence and outright corruption that we have seen in recent years. This decision gives the VA health system the chance to begin rebuilding trust with the veterans of America and their families.”

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, said Shinseki served the nation with “great honor” as a general in the Vietnam War.

“But that doesn’t excuse Gen. Shinseki, or any of the VA staff, from the mistreatment of America’s heroes — our veterans,” he said. “The problems at the VA are systemic, and Gen. Shinseki’s resignation alone will not solve all of these very serious issues. The VA needs major reforms, and it must implement a 21st century business model capable of meeting the needs of America’s heroes.”

“New leadership and a fresh set of eyes can often be helpful in solving problems like the ones plaguing the VA,” said U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area. “That said, I think it’s important we remember that this is a systemic problem throughout the VA and that simply replacing the secretary, while necessary, is in no way sufficient to begin to eliminate the rot that has plagued veterans’ health care. Increased transparency and accountability will be important steps to help us ensure that veterans are receiving the care they need and deserve.”

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, said Sloan Gibson, the acting VA secretary, “must take swift action to address problems uncovered by the [inspector general’s] report. The VA must also continue ongoing efforts to eliminate the disability claims backlog and ensure that all veterans have timely access to the services they have earned.”

Obama, under mounting pressure to act from fellow Democrats who are worried about political fallout in the fall elections, praised the retired four-star general and said he accepted his resignation with “considerable regret.” But the president, too, focused on increasingly troubling allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at veterans hospitals around the country.

Emerging from an Oval Office meeting with Shinseki, a stone-faced Obama said the secretary himself acknowledged he had become a distraction as the administration moves to address the VA’s troubles, and the president agreed with him.

“We don’t have time for distractions,” Obama said. “We need to fix the problem.”

One of Shinseki’s last acts as secretary was to hand the president an internal accounting that underscored just how big the problems have become. It showed that in some cases, VA schedulers have been pressured to fake information for reports to make waiting times for medical appointments look more favorable.

“It is totally unacceptable,” Obama said. “Our vets deserve the best. They’ve earned it.”

The president appointed Gibson, the No. 2 at the Veterans Affairs Department, as temporary secretary as the search for a permanent successor began. Obama also asked Rob Nabors, a top White House aide who has been dispatched to the VA to oversee a broad review, to stay for the time being.

Gibson, who has been Shinseki’s deputy for about three months, was formerly president and chief executive officer of the USO, the nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to U.S. troops and their families. Gibson is the son of an Army Air Corpsman who served in World War II and grandson of a World War I Army infantryman.

Republicans in Congress said the shake-up wasn’t enough to solve problems at an agency that has been struggling to keep up with a huge demand for its services — some 9 million enrolled now compared with 8 million in 2008. The influx comes from returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, aging Vietnam War vets who now have more health problems, a move by Congress to expand the number of those eligible for care and the migration of veterans to the VA during the last recession after they lost their jobs or switched to the VA when their private insurance became more expensive.

“One personnel change cannot be used as an excuse to paper over a systemic problem,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who had held off in calling for Shinseki’s resignation. “Our veterans deserve better. We’ll hold the president accountable until he makes things right.”

The massive bureaucracy at the VA has come under intense scrutiny over the past month, after allegations that 40 patients died while awaiting care at a Phoenix hospital where employees kept a secret waiting list to cover up delays. On Wednesday, the VA inspector general reported that 1,700 veterans seeking treatment at the Phoenix facility were at risk of being “forgotten or lost.”

After that scathing report, a cascade of Democrats on the ballot in the fall midterm elections joined dozens of Republicans in calling for Shinseki to step down.

Administration officials said the combined pressure of the VA investigator’s troubling findings and the extreme focus on Shinseki’s status led Obama to conclude that the secretary would probably need to resign. But they said the president wanted to first allow Shinseki an opportunity to submit his own report to the White House, set in motion a series of firings in the agency, and speak to veterans at a long-planned appearance Friday morning.

In his speech to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Shinseki said, “I extend an apology to the people whom I care most deeply about — that’s the veterans of this great country — to their families and loved ones, who I have been honored to serve for over five years now. It’s the calling of a lifetime.”