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发帖数: 29846 | 1 May 30, 2014 - 1:35 PM
By JULIE PACE and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki apologized in
public and then resigned in the privacy of the White House on Friday, driven
from office by a mushrooming scandal over the agency's health care system
that serves millions of the nation's former warriors.
President Barack Obama said he accepted the resignation "with considerable
regret," and appointed Sloan Gibson, the agency's No. 2 official, as
temporary secretary. Obama also said that the Justice Department would
determine if any illegality had occurred, and that a top White House aide
who has been detailed to the Veterans Affairs Department would remain there
for the time being,
As for Shinseki, Obama said, "I regret that he has to resign under these
circumstances." He lavished praise on the Vietnam veteran and former Army
chief of staff for his decades of service. He said the Cabinet officer had
told him "he does not want to be a distraction" from the need to repair the
agency, a task the president said pointedly could well require Congress to
approve additional money.
A lifetime of service, in uniform and out, wasn't enough to save Shinseki's
career, though, after agency investigators reported widespread problems in
its sprawling hospital system. They reported that 1,700 veterans seeking
treatment at the Phoenix facility alone were consigned to limbo because they
had never been added to official wait lists.
In the 36 hours that followed the findings on Wednesday, Democrats in tough
re-election races joined Republicans in clamoring for Shinseki's resignation.
In an appearance before a veterans group before he met with Obama, 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."
He called the problems outlined in the midweek report "totally unacceptable"
and a "breach of trust" that he found indefensible. He announced he would
take a series of steps to respond, including ousting senior officials at the
troubled Phoenix health care facility.
He concurred with the report's conclusion that the problems extended
throughout the VA's 1,700 health care facilities nationwide, and he said
that "I was too trusting of some" in the VA system.
Obama said Shinseki told him the agency needs new leadership and that he
didn't want to be a distraction. "I agree. We don't have time for
distractions. We need to fix the problem."
As his last act as a Cabinet official, Shinseki submitted a preliminary
audit, which concluded that some VA schedulers were pressured to make
waiting times for medical appointments appear shorter than they actually
were.
The review said the agency would revoke a 14-day standard as a goal in
performance reviews, and also suspend bonuses for this budget year.
Republicans in Congress said Shinseki's resignation alone wasn't enough to
solve problems at an agency that has been struggling to keep up with a huge
increase in demand for its services. About 9 million veterans are now
enrolled in the health care system, roughly 1 million more than only six
years ago. 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.
And Shinseki's departure seemed unlikely to end an election-year political
struggle between the parties.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the resignation "does not absolve
the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our
veterans." He and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called on
Democrats to join them in legislation "that would help to fix this system
that has so failed our veterans."
The Republican-controlled House passed one measure recently to give the VA
more ability to fire up to 450 senior executives. The Democratic-controlled
Senate is likely to debate a different version in the following week.
Gibson, the president's choice to take over the agency at least temporarily,
has held the No. 2 post since February. He 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.
The VA has a goal of trying to give patients appointments within 14 days of
when they first seek care. Treatment delays — and irregularities in
recording patient waiting times — have been documented in numerous reports
from government and outside organizations for years and have been well-known
to VA officials, members of Congress and veterans service organizations.
But the controversy now swirling around the VA stems from allegations that
employees were keeping a secret waiting list at the Phoenix hospital — and
suggestions that up to 40 patients may have died while awaiting care. A
preliminary VA inspector general probe into the allegations found systemic
falsification of appointment records at Phoenix and other locations but has
not made a determination on whether any deaths are related to the delays. | D*******o
发帖数: 3229 | | C*******r
发帖数: 10345 | 3 他算鳌八政权里极少的几个靠谱的，被这个烂摊子拖下水。
鳌八care以后估计比VA还要糟糕得多，VA才多大规模？没法和民用的比。 |
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