Here's how the New York Times begins its article on yesterday's report from the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans' Affairs:
In the first confirmation that Department of Veterans Affairs administrators manipulated medical waiting lists at one and possibly more hospitals, the department’s inspector general reported on Wednesday that 1,700 patients at the veterans medical center in Phoenix were not placed on the official waiting list for doctors’ appointments and may never have received care.
Unbelievable!
For the last month, we have seen interview after interview with veterans and their families detailing the extraordinarily long waits they endured to get medical treatment from the VA. We have seen hospital personnel brave the wrath of their bosses to confirm the existence of a second "hidden" waiting list for treatment that was created so that the official list would look good. We have heard statements from families about men who died as a result of lack of treatment from the VA while they were "waiting" in line. This story was first reported on CNN but then it was strongly covered by Fox News. After a short time many in Congress began denouncing the treatment of the vets. The story then spread to other media. But for the New York Times, yesterday was the "FIRST CONFIRMATION" that the VA personnel had done anything wrong.
I know that the Times hates to publish anything that might make president Obama or the Democrats look bad, but even for the Times, this latest thing is beyond the pale.
By the end of next week, the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs will be gone or, at least leaving. That will not solve the problem, however. Someone from Washington will have to actually try to manage the bureaucracy of the VA. I know management is not the strong suit of this administration, but America cannot go on leaving its veterans dying in the waiting room.
In the first confirmation that Department of Veterans Affairs administrators manipulated medical waiting lists at one and possibly more hospitals, the department’s inspector general reported on Wednesday that 1,700 patients at the veterans medical center in Phoenix were not placed on the official waiting list for doctors’ appointments and may never have received care.
Unbelievable!
For the last month, we have seen interview after interview with veterans and their families detailing the extraordinarily long waits they endured to get medical treatment from the VA. We have seen hospital personnel brave the wrath of their bosses to confirm the existence of a second "hidden" waiting list for treatment that was created so that the official list would look good. We have heard statements from families about men who died as a result of lack of treatment from the VA while they were "waiting" in line. This story was first reported on CNN but then it was strongly covered by Fox News. After a short time many in Congress began denouncing the treatment of the vets. The story then spread to other media. But for the New York Times, yesterday was the "FIRST CONFIRMATION" that the VA personnel had done anything wrong.
I know that the Times hates to publish anything that might make president Obama or the Democrats look bad, but even for the Times, this latest thing is beyond the pale.
By the end of next week, the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs will be gone or, at least leaving. That will not solve the problem, however. Someone from Washington will have to actually try to manage the bureaucracy of the VA. I know management is not the strong suit of this administration, but America cannot go on leaving its veterans dying in the waiting room.
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