Friday, October 16, 2015
Associated Press
PHOENIX
Staffing shortages and a lack of access to clinical records unnecessarily endangered the health of several Phoenix patients battling prostate and bladder cancer, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday.
In a new report, the VA’s Office of Inspector General cited several failures of the Phoenix VA’s urology care. Patients’ appointments were canceled because of a failure to address a staffing crisis. Non-VA providers’ clinical documents were not readily made available to health care administrators, according to the review. In all, the inspector general’s office said 10 patients experienced delays in care that put them at risk.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, called the details in the report “absolutely tragic and appalling.”
“No veteran should ever be denied care after he put his life on the line in our country,” the Georgia Republican said in a statement. “I expect every person responsible for this tragedy to be held accountable.”
The embattled Phoenix VA Health Care System was at the center of a national scandal last year about wait times and other problems that led to a systemwide overhaul. The former director of the Phoenix operation lost her job amid reports administrators falsified waiting lists in order to collect bonuses.