Jeff Miller Wants More Done After VA Fires Pittsburgh Director

From his perch as the chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., weighed in on the news that the VA department fired Terry Gerigk Wolf, the Pittsburgh health-care system director who was in charge during the Legionnaires' outbreak back in 2011 and 2012 which impacted 22 veterans, killing six of them. Wolf had been on paid administrative leave since the summer after a VA internal investigation.

Given that Wolfs firing comes two years after the VA Pittsburgh Health-care System Legionnaires disease outbreak ended, its obvious VA had no interest in holding her accountable initially and was only driven to this point after intense congressional and media scrutiny, Miller said. Still, this action falls fall short of whats needed to provide closure to the veterans and families struck by an outbreak that VA failed to stop and actively hid from the public. Though VA is finally holding someone accountable, we must also remember that the department has rewarded other central figures in the outbreak. Wolfs boss collected a $63,000 bonus days after the inspector general attributed the outbreak to mismanagement and VA recently promoted Wolfs deputy even though internal emails provide smoking-gun evidence he tried to hide the outbreak from the public. Though Wolfs removal is a positive step, VA still has a lot to learn about honesty, integrity and accountability, and this action doesnt change that fact.