“… The Veterans Choice Act, passed by Congress amid scandalous stories of hidden waiting lists at Veterans Affairs hospitals, allowed more veterans to get care from private providers, but it created an avalanche of paper at Veterans Affairs facilities as outside doctors sent in information on patients. Veterans Affairs doctors had to enter so many medical records manually into the aging department health records system that it crippled their ability to see patients…”
“Current and recently departed staff members describe the central office in Washington as eerily quiet. Political appointees hold meetings without career staff members and talk openly about purging…”
“An agency spokesman, Curt Cashour, argued that high staff turnover actually benefited the department, allowing the administration to replace high-level officials not fully committed to Mr. Trump’s policies….”
“But outside the department’s headquarters, many doctors, lawmakers and veterans advocates expressed concern about morale and productivity throughout the sprawling agency, which includes some 1,200 hospitals and clinics…” Read the full article here.
Source: V.A. Medical System Staggers as Chaos Engulfs Its Leadership – By Dave Philipps and Nicholas Fandos, May 4, 2018. The New York Times.
