In April, Dr. Samuel Foote, a former clinic director for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Phoenix, alleged that a secret waiting list for veterans awaiting treatment at the VA hospital in Phoenix was created in an attempt to cover up long wait times. Since the alleged creation of the secret list in February 2013, Foote claims that up to 40 veterans may have died awaiting treatment. These allegations quickly became national news and created a scandal that has some calling for the firing of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and other officials. However, this scandal is one of many that has rocked the VA. As commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama must act quickly to restore faith in the VA and protect our nation’s veterans.
The scandal at the VA hospital in Phoenix may have focused the nation’s attention on problems at VA facilities, but clear warning signs have been ignored for years. In Columbia, South Carolina, the list for veterans awaiting care at the Williams Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Medical Center had ballooned to over 3,800 individuals by December 2011. These wait lines led to to an estimated 20 or more veterans dying or near death while awaiting treatment.
What is even more maddening about this situation is that the problems at Dorn had already been identified. The VA had asked Congress for $1 million to pay for care of those on the waiting list, and in September 2011, Congress approved the funds. But only one-third of the amount requested was ultimately spent to pay for the care of veterans on the waiting list; the VA reallocated the remaining two-thirds. The inspector general investigating the situation at Dorn later released a report stating that 700 of the delays were critical.
Alongside the investigation at Dorn, the VA has looked into wait times at facilities in Atlanta, North Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. Indeed, the reports coming out of Phoenix are nothing new. The multiple reports of waiting lists, delays and the deaths stemming from them should have already mobilized the Obama administration and Congress. The response to these problems should be swift and focus on holding responsible parties accountable.
These problems will only grow over time. Our nation has spent over 12 years at war. Advances in medicine and lifesaving efforts in combat have resulted in many service members surviving wounds that in past wars likely would have killed them. Many of these injuries will require long-term care that will stretch over these veterans’ lifetimes.
Compounding this issue even further is the rise of traumatic brain injury resulting from improvised explosive devices and suicide bombs that have characterized our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy is still developing and we have yet to see the long-term effects it will have on a large group of people. (It is estimated that up to 20 percent of Iraq veterans tested positive for traumatic brain injury.) While it is difficult to predict exactly what care will entail going forward, the nation can only expect the standards of care to worsen with time unless the VA can fix its problems.
More money isn’t the solution. The VA budget has risen substantially over the last 5 years. Entrenched workers and supervisors who game the system need to be fired. This is difficult for civil service employees, which is part of a broader issue of reforming civilian government hires. Incentives need to be evaluated and workers who fake numbers in hopes of higher bonuses should be prosecuted.
We owe it to our veterans, past and present, to fix the system. Our service members who have deployed in the past and those currently deployed should not have to count a lack of proper care as one of the many dangers associated with combat. The young men and women who have served have sacrificed the best years of their lives to fight our country’s wars. The people our country sent to war honored their commitments. Our nation should do the same.
