Veterans Affairs grilled by House over avoidable deaths

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http://hamptonroads.com/2014/04/veterans-affairs-grilled-house-over-avoidable-deaths



The VA strives to complete 90 percent of diagnostic colonoscopies within 60 days, Hampton VA Medical Center spokeswoman Sheila Bailey said. In the final quarter of 2013, Hampton VA Medical Center, pictured here, completed 86 percent of the colonoscopies within the target period.

Veterans Affairs grilled by House over avoidable deaths
By Pilot and wire reports
© April 10, 2014
WASHINGTON

A House of Representatives committee blasted the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday over a lack of progress and accountability in the aftermath of at least 23 preventable deaths that were the result of delays in treatment at VA medical centers across the country.

Two of the deaths happened at the Hampton VA Medical Center.

Another of the centers to come under heat was the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, S.C., where six patients died as a result of not receiving care they needed, according to a VA report.

In the third House Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing about patient safety, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the panel, and other lawmakers expressed frustration with the VA’s unresponsiveness to requests for information. These included the steps the department has taken to discipline those responsible, as well as how funding meant to reduce backlogs and improve care has been spent.