Four proposed firings are not enough to show the Department of Veterans Affairs has changed its culture of protecting failed executives, the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee said Tuesday.
One of the career civil service executives targeted under the enhanced firing authority at VA announced his retirement before his termination was proposed. Another lined up a new senior-level position with the Department of Energy, an offer that was rescinded after a media firestorm last week.
Though the terminations have been proposed, no one has been fired outright.
That’s unacceptable, said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., whose committee exposed much of the wrongdoing and lack of accountability at VA.
Miller said he fears top agency officials are protecting those who lied about patient wait times or tried to cover up the ever-widening scandal by giving them an opportunity to leave without facing the kind of career-ending punishment they deserve.
“Any VA administrator who purposely manipulated appointment data, covered up problems, retaliated against whistleblowers or who was involved in malfeasance that harmed veterans must be fired,” Miller said. “VA appears to be giving failing executives an opportunity to quit, retire or find new jobs without consequence — something we have already seen happen in recent weeks.”
A proposed termination means the agency has begun the complicated and lengthy procedure to fire a federal employee, not that the person has actually been removed from the government payroll. A new law signed in August was intended to shorten the process of separating members of the Senior Executive Service who are charged with misconduct or poor performance. The SES is the highest level of management for career government workers.
Two new proposed terminations included Susan Taylor, deputy chief procurement officer at VA, who was the subject of a scathing inspector general’s report accusing her of steering a lucrative contract to a Virginia company, FedBid Inc. The Sept. 26 report also accused Taylor of leaking confidential information to FedBid.
The Washington Examiner reported last week that Taylor lined up a job as director of procurement planning at the Department of Energy, and was supposed to start Oct. 5. That offer was rescinded after disclosure of the IG report and inquiries from the Examiner.
VA officials gave conflicting statements on her status last week, first saying she was no longer employed by the agency, then later saying she was still there.
The agency’s announcement Monday said the proposed removal “underscores VA’s commitment to hold leaders accountable and get Veterans the care they need,” a generic statement used in agency press releases about other proposed firings.
VA officials also announced the proposed removal of James Talton, director of the Central Alabama VA Healthcare System, who has been on paid administrative leave since August amid allegations of falsified patient wait times and manipulation of records.
The Office of Special Counsel, which investigates whistleblower retaliation, singled out the network based in Montgomery, Ala., as “part of troubling pattern of deficient patient care at VA facilities nationwide” in a June 2014 letter to President Obama.
The OSC confirmed that a pulmonologist copied prior medical notes to represent current readings for 1,200 patients. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that the facility had “lost”more than 2,000 unread patient X-rays and other images since 2009.
The VA’s announcement Monday said Talton is being proposed for termination because of “neglect of duty.”
The proposed termination of Terry Gerigk Wolf, director of the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System, was announced Friday. Wolf was director of the Pittsburgh hospital when at least six patients died there in 2011 and 2012 from Legionnaires’ Disease. The agency’s inspector general linked the deaths to mismanagement and poor maintenance.
Even so, Wolf received a performance bonus of nearly $13,000 in 2011 and a perfect performance evaluation in 2012.
Wolf was also at the center of controversy in May, when she told a member of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation that her facility had “passed with flying colors” an audit to determine if patient wait times were being falsified. Wolf later admitted she was aware that more than 700 patients were waiting for medical appointments, but said she was told not to disclose the information to members of Congress.
The VA release said only that Wolf was being fired for “conduct unbecoming” a senior executive, but did not specify whether the charges are related to the patient deaths or misleading Congress.
The fourth top executive recently targeted for termination is John Goldman, director of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Ga. VA announced Goldman’s proposed firing Sept. 26, four days after he announced his retirement.
The VA press release said allegations of data manipulation at the Dublin facility were confirmed by agency investigators.
The agency statements did not identify any of the executives by name, only by job title. Miller did name the executives.
Once a firing of a VA senior executive is proposed internally, the employee has five days to respond in writing before the secretary makes the final decision.
After a firing becomes final, the employee has seven days to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which then has 21 days to render a verdict under the new law. The decision by the MSPB judge is final.
The latest round of turmoil at VA erupted in April, when Miller revealed whistleblower allegations that medical appointment records were being deliberately manipulated to hide long delays in care at the Phoenix VA hospital. The scandal led to the resignation in May of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
McDonald was picked by Obama to replace Shinseki and was confirmed by the Senate in July.
The investigation of falsified wait times by the agency’s inspector general has spread to 93 facilities nationwide. The IG sought criminal charges in 17 cases related to falsification of patient wait times, but the Department of Justice declined to prosecute any of them, Richard Griffin, acting VA inspector general, told Miller’s committee last month.
Separate charges were sought against Taylor for her role in the procurement scheme, but the Justice Department refused to prosecute her case as well.
