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Five hundred and fourteen days. That’s how long it took to get the emergency department at the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in my home state of Kansas reopened after it was closed in 2013 due to a staffing shortage.
Only after numerous phone calls, letters, meetings and more were we able to navigate through the bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. For nearly two years, our veterans in Topeka and across Kansas were left without emergency facilities in the face of VA immovability, lacking the care they are owed and deserve.
This is a story told across the country. The VA remains inefficient, unaccountable and completely lacking transparency. One in three veterans seeking VA care have died while waiting, equating to hundreds of thousands of lives.
We promise the brave men and women fighting for our country that if you take care of us, we will take care of you. It’s a unanimous principle nationwide, yet for too many veterans, the sad reality is the VA fails time and again to provide the necessary care.
An unaccountable VA, lost in the bureaucracies of Washington, fails to hold accountable employees who do not perform. Before coming to Congress, I spent 20 years working as a certified public accountant. I knew that if I didn’t do my job well, I could expect consequences. But for too many VA officials, there is no downside to incompetence. Getting the firing process started takes an average of six months to a year — all while veterans continue to suffer the impacts of VA mismanagement.
Read more at ...
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/opinion/2015/07/29/commentary-veterans-deserve-accountable-va/30822629/
Only after numerous phone calls, letters, meetings and more were we able to navigate through the bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. For nearly two years, our veterans in Topeka and across Kansas were left without emergency facilities in the face of VA immovability, lacking the care they are owed and deserve.
This is a story told across the country. The VA remains inefficient, unaccountable and completely lacking transparency. One in three veterans seeking VA care have died while waiting, equating to hundreds of thousands of lives.
We promise the brave men and women fighting for our country that if you take care of us, we will take care of you. It’s a unanimous principle nationwide, yet for too many veterans, the sad reality is the VA fails time and again to provide the necessary care.
An unaccountable VA, lost in the bureaucracies of Washington, fails to hold accountable employees who do not perform. Before coming to Congress, I spent 20 years working as a certified public accountant. I knew that if I didn’t do my job well, I could expect consequences. But for too many VA officials, there is no downside to incompetence. Getting the firing process started takes an average of six months to a year — all while veterans continue to suffer the impacts of VA mismanagement.
Read more at ...
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/opinion/2015/07/29/commentary-veterans-deserve-accountable-va/30822629/
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 24
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I go to the VA for my health care. I am 74 now and I belong to the Dav here in Louisville.
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The question should read, why dont we have an accountable congress?
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I've been happy with my VA experience. I'd be dead if I didn't advocate for myself when it's been necessary, but I'm still breathing so I can't complain.
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House passes new VA reforms, but veto threat looms ...
House Republicans on Wednesday passed new rules to speed the firing of problematic Veterans Affairs Department employees, despite a veto threat from the White House and objections from Democratic lawmakers.
The measure would shorten the appeals process time for fired or demoted VA employees and put strict limits on how long workers could be put on paid suspensions for infractions.
Supporters call the accountability bill a critical step forward in reforming the VA’s reputation, still battered from accusations of mismanagement, records manipulation and callousness at regional offices.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/07/29/house-new-va-reforms/30845137/
House Republicans on Wednesday passed new rules to speed the firing of problematic Veterans Affairs Department employees, despite a veto threat from the White House and objections from Democratic lawmakers.
The measure would shorten the appeals process time for fired or demoted VA employees and put strict limits on how long workers could be put on paid suspensions for infractions.
Supporters call the accountability bill a critical step forward in reforming the VA’s reputation, still battered from accusations of mismanagement, records manipulation and callousness at regional offices.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/07/29/house-new-va-reforms/30845137/
House passes new VA reforms, but veto threat looms
House Republicans on Wednesday passed new rules to speed the firing of problematic Veterans Affairs Department employees, despite a veto threat from the White House and objections from Democratic lawmakers.
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MSgt Manuel Diaz
We don't have an accountable potus, nor an accountable congress nor an accountable Senate, nor an accountable supreme court, nor an accountable government, nor an accountable police force, why would you expect anything in the government accountable?
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