MANCHESTER, N.H. — The nation’s top veterans affairs official promised Friday to bring fresh leadership and additional funding to the embattled Manchester Veterans Administration Medical Center so sick and wounded service members can get the care they deserve.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin said recruitment would begin immediately for a new director, chief of staff and director of nursing and patient care services. He also announced a task force was being formed to explore bringing a full-service veterans hospital to New Hampshire. Currently, New Hampshire veterans needing hospitalization must either go to a private hospital in Concord or VA facilities in Boston or White River Junction, Vermont.
He also highlighted $30 million in spending for expanded facilities, repairs to buildings damaged in a recent flood and a new center that helps veterans access Choice, which offers them federally paid medical care outside the VA.
Shulkin already has removed the hospital’s top two leaders and ordered a review and an investigation by the VA’s inspector general after The Boston Globe reported last month on a whistle-blower complaint filed by physicians alleging substandard care at state’s only medical center for veterans.
They described a fly-infested operating room, surgical instruments that weren’t always sterilized and patients whose conditions were ignored or weren’t treated properly. They also accused administrators of essentially dismantling the hospital’s cardiology and surgical programs.
“What we need here is a new leadership team that will help bring this organization into the future and meet the needs of the veterans here,” Shulkin said after touring the facility and meeting with veterans, staff and whistle-blowers.
In their meeting with Shulkin, the whistle-blowers described a toxic working environment with many problems tied to issues at the VA nationally. They want Shulkin to do a top-to-bottom assessment of all management at the Manchester VA and provide assurances that the hiring of a chief of staff and medical director would be transparent and include input from staff.
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