Accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs apparently means firing someone who has already retired, a press release issued Friday shows.
The retirement of John Goldman, director of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Ga., was announced Monday. Then on Friday, VA sent out a press release saying the agency has “proposed removal” for Goldman, the agency’s euphemism for firing someone.
“The proposed removal of the director underscores VA’s commitment to hold leaders accountable and get Veterans the care they need,” the agency’s statement reads.
It adds that Secretary Robert McDonald is using his powers under a new law approved in August that makes it easier for him to fire or demote senior managers for misconduct or poor performance.
That kind of accountability is not very impressive, said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“Bragging about the proposed removal of someone who has already announced his retirement can only be described as disingenuous,” Miller said.
“Department leaders must not tolerate this instance of what appears to be blatant deceit. Such semantic sleights of hand are insulting to the families struck by the VA scandal and only do more harm to the department’s badly damaged credibility.”
Investigations by the agency’s inspector general and an internal review office have confirmed improper manipulation of patient wait times to hide delays in care at the Dublin hospital, one of many facilities caught in the national scandal over falsified patient records that erupted in April.
Improper and potentially illegal practices have been confirmed in Phoenix and other cities by the inspector general, which is probing allegations of similar practices in at least 93 VA facilities nationwide.
The ploy of firing someone who is retiring is not new at VA.
In May, the day after a heated congressional hearing over bogus waiting lists, then-Secretary Eric Shinseki announced his plans to oust Robert Petzel, under secretary of health. Petzel had announced his retirement in Sept. 2013.
Another controversial top administrator, Rebecca Wiley, collected a settlement of more than $76,000, plus another $10,500 for attorney’s fees, after she agreed to retire last October, the Augusta Chronicle reported this week.
Wiley is the former director of hospitals in Augusta, Ga., and Columbia, S.C., where the deaths of at least nine patients have been linked to long delays in receiving gastrointestinal testing such as colonoscopies.
So far, no one implicated in the falsification of waiting lists has been publicly fired by VA, though some have retired or resigned.
Frank Jordan, spokesman for the Dublin hospital, released a statement saying the proposed removal of Goldman is “to honor our commitment to hold all senior executives accountable for their actions and to ensure continuity of leadership for employees and Veterans at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center.”
Jordan refused to comment further or explain whether “proposed removal” means firing Goldman from his federal job or simply as director of the hospital.
This story was first published at 1:20 p.m. and has been updated to include a statement from Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.
