On Tuesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has issued notices of proposed removal to three senior officials at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. The Department proposed the removal of Lance Robinson, the facility’s Associate Director; Brad Curry, Chief of Health Administration Service; and Dr. Darren Deering, Chief of Staff.
In January, Gibson changed VA policy to ensure that employees who were part of administrative investigations would not be placed on paid administrative leave, instead they would be moved into non-patient care functions and continue performing other duties as assigned.
The removal actions follow the appointment of a new medical center director for the Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS). On November 20, Deborah Amdur was named Health Care System Director after serving as Medical Center Director of the White River Junction VA Medical Center in Vermont.
Rep. Matt Salmon told constituents that the action “shows we’re finally getting some accountability for our vets.”
U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement today on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) proposal to remove three senior Phoenix VA Health Care System officials for wrongdoing:
“I appreciate the VA’s proposal to remove three senior Phoenix VA executives who bore responsibility in the terrible scandal of denied and delayed care of veterans,” stated Senator John McCain. “While I support this welcomed but long overdue action, it unfortunately took nearly two years for the VA to make this appropriate decision despite the enactment of major reform legislation that empowers the agency to more easily fire wrongdoers. The VA clearly has a long way to go to fully utilize all of the tools at its disposal to change the culture of corruption that led to this grave scandal and clean up the widespread mismanagement that continues to fail our veterans.”