Phoenix VA Sees Hundreds of Veterans Die

Conditions at the VA have yet to improve, despite several reports and many years devoted to restructuring the organization.

The Phoenix Veterans Affairs office is still improperly canceling veterans’ appointments, has built up a new backlog of cases — and at least one veteran is likely dead because of it, the department’s inspector general said in a new report Tuesday.

Two years after they first sounded the alarm about secret waiting lists leaving veterans struggling for care at the Phoenix VA, investigators said some services have improved, and they cleared the clinic of allegations that top officials ordered staff to cancel appointments.

But confusion and bureaucratic bungling are still prevalent, some veterans are waiting a half-year or longer for treatment, and staff are still canceling appointments for questionable reasons.

More than 200 veterans died while waiting for appointments in 2015, and investigators said at least one veteran would likely have been saved if the clinic had gone ahead with his consultation.

“This patient never received an appointment for a cardiology exam that could have prompted further definitive testing and interventions that could have forestalled his death,” the inspector general said.

Unfortunately, it seems as if few people have the ability to focus on anything but the 2016 presidential race. Maybe, once the election is decided, our politicians will once again remember how poorly our veterans have been treated by the VA and decide to do something about it. It would appear that if Trump sits in the Oval Office, that day will come.

Source: Washington Times