Rubio demands answers about VA
Report showed hundreds waited weeks to be treated
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wants answers after a recent report showed as many as 450 veterans faced long wait times for endoscopy procedures like colonoscopies at the Orlando VA Medical Center and that the hospital didn’t use a VA program that allows veterans to use community providers to help shorten the wait times.
Rubio sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Thursday, asking for “an explanation on disciplinary actions that have been executed, and if there are none, the reason.” He also asked for information about actions taken by the VA to ensure that all Orlando VA departments adhere to community care rules and policies.
He wrote that he’s concerned that the delays in procedures posed “substantial danger and could threaten patient outcomes.”
“VA appreciates the Senator’s views and will respond to him directly,” wrote Heather Frebe, a spokeswoman for the Orlando VA Medical Center, in a statement. “VA has reviewed extensively the issues [Office of Special Counsel] raised, and the Orlando VA Medical Center reviewed every Veterans case referenced in the report, finding no patient harm.”
The allegations were filed last year by anonymous whistle-blowers with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which notified the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA launched an investigation of the Orlando VA Medical Center last March, confirming the allegations and concluding “that a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety exists at Orlando.”
The VA asked the Orlando facility to find the root causes of delays and take corrective action to make sure high-risk veterans get timely colonoscopies. It also asked the center to look for an inadvertent increase in wait times and to conduct leadership reviews at the gastroenterology department to ensure compliance with VA policies.
“Orlando VAMC developed an action plan to address all recommendations. Orlando VAMC has been making progress on these efforts according to the timeline established in its plan,” Frebe wrote.
She did not share what specific actions the Orlando VA has taken.
Deciding that the Orlando VA has addressed the issues adequately, the Special Counsel closed the case last week and sent a summary report to President Trump and Congress. The Special Counsel will also send copies of the letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Committees on Veterans Affairs.
“Any additional followup actions would need to be taken by Congress,” said a Special Counsel spokesman in an email to the Orlando
Sentinel last week. In his letter, Rubio wrote that “The delays and failure to refer Veterans to the Veterans Choice Program are unacceptable and must be prevented from happening in the future.”
Frebe of Orlando VA wrote that “Although VA’s current patchwork of seven separate community care programs is a confusing bureaucratic maze, that will soon change under the MISSION Act, which will consolidate VA’s community care efforts into a single program that’s easy to use for Veterans and VA employees.”
The VA Choice Program allows veterans in VA health care to go to community providers, especially when they have to wait more than 30 days or travel more than 40 miles for an appointment. The Trump administration is planning to increase veterans' access to the private sector as part of the Mission Act, which was passed last year and scheduled to go into effect this year. The Mission Act will replace the VA Choice Program.