Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki issued a short statement on Friday, “Today, I accepted the resignation of Dr. Robert Petzel, Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Shinseki claimed that “most Veterans are satisfied with the quality of their VA health care, but we must do more to improve timely access to that care. I thank Dr. Petzel for his four decades of service to Veterans.”
The lack of timely care by the Obama administration’s DAV, resulted in the death of veterans in the Phoenix VA Hospital.
Gosar said the resignation was an “apparent attempt to feign accountability for the deaths of as many as 40 veterans at the Phoenix VA, the White House.” Gosar said he was “not fooled, however, by this resignation, as Mr. Petzel was planning to retire in 2014 anyways. In fact, President Obama nominated his replacement days before his resignation.
“This looks like a classic scapegoat show resignation,” said Gosar. “And that don’t impress me much.”
“Our veterans deserve true accountability and answers, along with a concrete plan of action – not empty gestures and insults to our intelligence,” concluded Gosar.
The Washington Times reported that the “American Legion, the first group to call for Mr. Shinseki to step down amid the allegations, said Dr. Petzel’s resignation is a step in the right direction, but does not fix the long-time problems facing the healthcare system.”
“Dr. Petzel’s resignation is a step toward addressing the leadership problems at VA that have led to the terrible history of accountability and inefficiency we are seeing systemwide,” said Daniel M. Dellinger, American Legion National Commander, in a statement reported by the Times. “More needs to be done to ensure changes are made that enable VA to properly care for America’s veterans.”