Posted on Nov 19, 2015
Do you agree, VA secretary predicts sea of change at agency while touring Pittsburg, PA?
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Do you agree, VA secretary predicts sea of change at agency while touring Pittsburg, PA?
Check out this article RP Members - Is there a "sea of change"?
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/touring-pittsburgh-va-secretary-predicts-sea-of-change-at-agency-1.379486
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Tuesday toured Pittsburgh, touting improvements in patient care, a slew of fresh hires and new leadership training he anticipates will effect a “huge culture change” within an agency plagued by scandal in recent years.
In his 15th month helming the 340,000-employee department, McDonald rebuffed criticisms that the VA is not doing enough to resolve issues such as wait-list manipulation and hefty patient backlogs, and that it's not moving quickly enough to discipline supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers.
“The best customer-focused companies in the world are those where the employees are making the changes and not waiting for management to make the changes,” said McDonald, whose wife grew up in Western Pennsylvania.
“And where we find that we have leaders who are not creating that kind of culture, we take action and we move them and we discipline them.
Check out this article RP Members - Is there a "sea of change"?
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/touring-pittsburgh-va-secretary-predicts-sea-of-change-at-agency-1.379486
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Tuesday toured Pittsburgh, touting improvements in patient care, a slew of fresh hires and new leadership training he anticipates will effect a “huge culture change” within an agency plagued by scandal in recent years.
In his 15th month helming the 340,000-employee department, McDonald rebuffed criticisms that the VA is not doing enough to resolve issues such as wait-list manipulation and hefty patient backlogs, and that it's not moving quickly enough to discipline supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers.
“The best customer-focused companies in the world are those where the employees are making the changes and not waiting for management to make the changes,” said McDonald, whose wife grew up in Western Pennsylvania.
“And where we find that we have leaders who are not creating that kind of culture, we take action and we move them and we discipline them.
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 22
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I recently got a significant rating, it took 8 months from when I did my online application and downloaded all the medical evidence, civilian and military. I was sent to two DR appointments a couple months later then just waited a few months. I didn't put my dependents on the form so my disability pay was lower than expected, I took 20 minutes to put the correct info through ebenefits, it was adjusted within 24 hours. The VA is getting it together in my opinion.
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Cpl Lawrence Lavictoire
You lucked out Beau. Put in 3 claims in 4 years. Received one which I never expected, turned down one( a main-one) on Agent Orange (still fighting) and they lost my 3rd one! Keep plugging, I'm told! Hope to live so long!
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SGT Beau Thomas
Cpl Lawrence Lavictoire - I am pretty lucky that everything is getting pushed through much quicker these days, the Vietnam vets keep getting shit on it seems. I wish that I knew how to fix it. The only hope is that the VA has an extreme amount of pressure to clear the backlog of claims. So hopefully it will work out for you sooner than later.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs I must admit I have seen a drastic change from 120 days to about 60 days wait time at the VAHampton Medical Center. Slowly but surely change is in the horizon.
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No, I do not agree on a "predicted sea of changes" as long as those (known) who are destroying the system from the inside are allowed to remain functioning within the system along with failures to "adequately" discipline same supervisors, and those supervisors who retaliate against whistle-blowers. And this is the minimal end of it as I haven't even gotten to the Veterans issues yet... Don't misunderstand, there have been significant changes across the board for our Veterans as it pertains to the VA, but I believe the VA Secretary's "touting predictions" at this point are far too early with so many other things still wrong with and within the system. Let's just wait and see what these new directors/leadership teams in 90% of VA medical centers are going to actually do for us first, and maybe, just maybe, we might be able to forget about those "disciplined ones" who are still on the VA payroll... Nah... Just kidding... We will NEVER forget about them...
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