KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffFederal Report Shows Marion VA Still Faces Problem
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By Holly Brantley
MARION, IL ( KFVS) - Monday, Illinois State leaders fired back with strong words after the release of a review regarding Marion's VA Medical Center.
The report which follows the period between October 2007 and August of 2009 said plenty of problems still exist at the VA Hospital.
Just about two hours after the report was made public, Senators and Congressman had a letter on the way to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. They called for a meeting to discuss what they call unacceptable standards and treatment of veterans.
According to Illinois Senators and Congressman, "It's clear those in the direct line of command at Marion have violated the public's trust and should be relieved of their duties until serious questions over management can be answered. "
According to a lengthy review from the Department Inspector General, the hospital continues to have problems two years after nine deaths apparently caused by sub-standard care put surgeries on hold.
Some examples: surgeons performing procedures they weren't authorized to perform, and inconsistent hospital death reporting which showed three different sets of documents with three different death totals for April of 2009.
What's more, the Inspector General's Office didn't feel the VA's practices were thorough enough. Those issues included records review, patient data analysis, and staff life support certifications. Still Network Director James Floyd says he finds many positives in the report.
"From it's history several years ago, there's been some things that sparked the VA to respond with national initiatives to make sure that we have standards in place to surpass what we've ever done before," said Floyd.
Floyd says eight of ten areas of needed improvement have been met and the remaining two will be closed out in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile he says Marion VA Director Warren Hill has decided to take a job in Wisconsin and they will begin the transition with a temporary team Tuesday.
Also, Floyd said Marion VA is in the process of hiring so that they can get the appropriate staff needed to apply to begin performing surgeries at full capacity again.
Regarding the report's recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General, the report indicates they will continue to follow up until they see that effective change is happening.
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