Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) today sent the following letter to Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, requesting that the Committee investigate and hold hearings on recent reports of gross mismanagement and neglect at the Phoenix VA Health Care Center (PVAHCS), including allegations that the deaths of forty veterans may be related to delays in care.

The signed letter can be viewed here.

The text of the letter can be viewed below.

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April 23, 2014

The Honorable Bernie Sanders

Chairman

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

412 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-6050

 

The Honorable Richard Burr

Ranking Member

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

412 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-6050

 

Dear Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr:

As you know, on April 10, 2014, the Arizona Republic reported that the deaths of forty veterans may be related to delays in care at the Phoenix VA Health Care Center (PVAHCS). Due to the severity of these allegations, we request that the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs investigate and hold a hearing to examine the matter.

This article was published after Chairman Miller of the House Veterans Affairs Committee testified during a hearing that he had evidence suggesting that PVAHCS officials manipulated schedules in order to make it appear that patients received appointments faster than they actually did. This raises concern that officials have been misusing the Electronic Waiting List system employed by all VA Health Centers and keeping a non-official list outside of standard VA procedures. In fact, it has been suggested that PVAHCS staff may have used this non-official electronic list to queue veterans until an appointment became available within their 24-25 day waiting period, at which point veterans were transferred to the official waiting list despite the fact that the appointment request was made much earlier. One major consequence of the supposed two-list system is that veterans’ actual wait times could have been significantly longer than what is reported by Phoenix VA officials.

Regardless of whether these deaths were caused by mismanagement by PVAHCS officials or intentional manipulation, the allegations appear indicative of broader trends that we have observed regarding the VA’s apparent failure to provide quality healthcare to our veterans. As you undoubtedly appreciate, VA must use its resources to address veterans’ concerns in an effective, efficient, and timely manner.  American veterans deserve to have an agency that respects their sacrifice to this country by putting their needs first.

We request that a hearing draw attention to serious problems at PVAHCS and to explore what steps can be taken by the VA to stop similar situations in the future around the country. Thank you for the consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

John McCain

United States Senator

 

Jeff Flake

United States Senator

 

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