A congressman from Florida is pushing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to fire Phoenix VA Health-care System Director Sharon Helman.
Earlier this year, reports emerged across the nation of altered waiting lists at VA medical centers across the nation, making it look like veterans seeking care would get quicker care than what could actually be provided. Much of the focus turned to VA facilities in Phoenix, Ariz. Helman was suspended with pay back in May after reports surfaced that as many as 40 veterans in Phoenix died while awaiting treatment.
Despite Congress passing a law earlier this year making it easier for the VA secretary to fire incompetent employees, back in October VA Sec. Bob McDonald said he could not fire Helman until the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) finished its own investigation. But Military.com reported on Wednesday that the DOJ took no position on the matter and informed the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee of that fact.
That was enough for U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, to call for the VA to fire Helman.
This isnt complicated, Miller said on Tuesday. If VA has the evidence needed to fire Sharon Helman, which it says it does, it should fire her. Keeping Helman and other Phoenix executives on the payroll when the department wants to fire them is nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars. The Department of Justice has already said it doesnt mind if Helman is fired, so VAs excuses as to why taxpayers must continue to pay her nearly $170,000 a year for doing nothing are simply hot air.
This is precisely the type of situation that makes the average citizen lose faith in their government and causes quality health-care professionals to think twice when considering whether to work at VA, Miller added. If VA wants to rebuild its reputation with veterans and the prospective health-care employees it says it needs, then it should stop making excuses for the villains of the VA scandal and get serious about purging them from the payroll.
McDonald was named earlier to replace Eric Shinseki at VA. Shinseki resigned at the end of May after news of the altered waiting lists surfaced.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
