Employee alleges ongoing cover-up at Phoenix VA
PHOENIX (AP) -- An employee of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix that is at the center of a nationwide scandal over delays in care is alleging there is an ongoing cover-up of patient deaths at the facility.
Scheduling clerk Pauline DeWenter also acknowledged that she was the person who maintained a "secret list" of veterans who waited months for appointments.
DeWenter spoke with the Arizona Republic Monday and also did interviews with CNN. She told the Republic she has spoken to VA Office of Inspector General investigators about the list, turned over evidence and reported her suspicions of a cover-up.
That cover-up allegedly involved someone changing entries on the electronic appointment records of veterans who died while awaiting care. DeWenter said she entered "deceased" on the records and someone later changed the entry to "entered in error" and "no longer needed." She said some of the changes happened in recent weeks.
DeWenter said the Phoenix VA Medical Center was overwhelmed with patients in early 2013 and a supervisor ordered her to gather new-patient appointment requests and place them in her desk drawer.
She declined to name the supervisor but estimated that more than 1,000 veterans were sidetracked onto that "secret list." They remained there for weeks or months because they couldn't be scheduled within a 14-day goal set for wait times.
She said she objected to the practice but didn't complain to the Phoenix VA director Sharon Helman because Helman had warned employees to follow orders in the campaign to cut wait times.
"She said during a meeting, `If you don't do this my way, I will personally buy you a pass for the 7th Street bus ... out of the VA,'" DeWenter told the Republic.
"My hands were tied," DeWenter said. "I tried to scream, and did the best with what I had. But the vets who were upset and deceased - I can't shake that feeling."
Although the appointment delay issue first became public in Phoenix, it has since been discovered the problem is widespread at VA facilities nationwide.
The VA, which serves almost 9 million veterans, has been reeling from mounting evidence that workers falsified reports on wait times for medical appointments in an effort to mask frequent, long delays. An internal audit released this week showed that more than 57,000 new applicants for care have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments and an additional 64,000 newly enrolled vets who requested appointments never got them.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned May 30 and an acting secretary is running the agency.
The director of the Phoenix VA, Sharon Helman, is on administrative leave, and the FBI has also launched a criminal n investigation of the facility.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation to address the problem. Both the House and Senate have passed legislation that would require the VA to pay private providers to treat qualifying veterans who can't get prompt appointments. Each chamber has appointed a committee to iron out differences between the two bills, with the lawmakers meeting Tuesday.
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