By Wafa Shahid | Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – Department of Veterans’ Affairs officials apologized this week for comments by Secretary Robert McDonald that compared VA health care wait times with wait times at Disneyland – but they didn’t back down from the statement.
VA administrators conceded that it was a poor choice of words but told a Senate panel Tuesday that McDonald was making a “point about delivering great customer service,” of which wait times are only a part.
“The point Bob was trying to make was really the point about delivering great customer service, a great veteran experience around healthcare,” Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
“It’s unfortunate and he and I both regret that folks misunderstood or misconstrued the point that was being made there,” Gibson said.
Gibson’s testimony – McDonald was not at the hearing – did little to soothe lawmakers at the hearing, including Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who said wait times for care can be a matter of life and death for veterans.
“In at least one case that triggered this whole scandal, 50 veterans waited and died while waiting,” McCain said. “I don’t see how you compare that to Disneyland.”
The Disneyland comment came Monday when McDonald was the featured speaker at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters.
“When you go to Disneyland, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important?” McDonald said, in response to a question about wait times and the quality of care at the VA.
The comment immediately drew fire from elected officials, who called it “ludicrous” and “just plain wrong,” and with some lawmakers calling for McDonald’s resignation.
McDonald quickly backtracked, saying in a statement Tuesday that he if anyone thought his comments mean that he doesn’t take seriously the “noble mission” of helping veterans, “I deeply regret that. Nothing could be further from the truth.”