Top Obama aide Rob Nabors to oversee VA review,
Treatment delays, preventable deaths at hospitals alleged.
WASHINGTON— President Barack Obama is dispatching one of his closest White House advisers to oversee a review of the beleaguered Veterans Affairs Department as the agency grapples with allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at a Phoenix veterans hospital.
White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors will be temporarily assigned to the VA to work on a review focused on policies for patient safety rules and the scheduling of patient appointments, officials said Wednesday. The move signals Obama’s growing concern over problems at the department, particularly recent reports that hospital administrators in Phoenix kept an off-thebooks list to conceal long wait times as 40 veterans died waiting to get an appointment. Similar prob- lems have since been reported in other states.
The allegations have sparked a firestorm inside the VA and on Capitol Hill. The American Legion and some congressional Republicans have called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee today.
“While we get to the bottom of what happened in Phoenix, it’s clear the VA needs to do more to ensure quality care for our veterans,” Obama said in a statement. “I’m grateful that Rob, one of my most trusted advisers, has agreed to work with Secretary Shinseki to help the team at this important moment.”
Obama ordered the patient policy review after the Phoenix allega- tions became public. But officials said Shinseki requested more help with the review, leading Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, to tap Nabors for the assignment.
The move is similar to the action the White House took last year when it assigned longtime Obama aide Jeffrey Zients to take over management of the troubled HealthCare.gov website from officials at the Health and Human Services Department. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius later resigned her post.
Despite calls for Shinseki to step down, the White House insists that Obama continues to have confidence in the secretary, a retired four-star Army general. Shinseki said he welcomed Nabors’ help in ensuring veterans have access to timely, quality health care.
“If allegations about manipulation of appointment scheduling are true, they are completely unacceptable — to veterans, to me and to our dedicated VA employees,” Shinseki said.