LYNCH TO LEAD MEETING ON HUB VA WOES
Bay State U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch will meet tomorrow with the head of the Boston Veterans Assistance to review how the VA handles traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of a Herald special report that found rampant problems at clinics responsible for treating veterans in Boston.
“Our veterans, by their dedicated service to our nation, have earned the right to high quality and reliable health care,” Lynch said yesterday in a statement. “We must make every effort to ensure proper procedures are in place at our veterans’ health care facilities to properly diagnose TBI and PTSD and provide our dedicated service men and women with the type of care that they need.”
A Herald report earlier this month found the Boston VA Regional Office incorrectly handled one in six TBIs, causing errors in how much veterans received in monthly disability payments, and in 2012 was found to be “noncompliant” with requirements that patients be told about positive TBI results. One vet, Brian Callahan, told the Herald the VA saw him for six years without telling him about a mass in his brain.
The meeting will include Lynch; Vincent Ng, director of the VA Boston Healthcare System; state Secretary for Veteran Affairs Francisco Urena; other state and local officials and veterans groups. John MacDonald, a spokesman for Veterans Assisting Veterans, said he hopes the meeting leads to real action.
“We’re looking for accountability, we’re looking for change, because obviously what happened is unacceptable,” MacDonald said. “We would like to know why these things are happening at the VA, why they are happening, how did they happen and how are they going to rectify what happened so it doesn’t happen in the future?”