Critics doubt nagging issues at Ill. VA fixable - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Critics doubt nagging issues at Ill. VA fixable

MARION, Ill. — The new interim chief of a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital where major surgeries have been suspended for more than two years said he’s confident lingering problems there can be fixed.

But the founder and editor of VAWatchdog.org said he believes the VA system is too bureaucratic and the problems too entrenched to quickly fix troubles at the Marion VA.

Larry Scott’s comments follow last week’s report by the VA’s inspector general detailing insufficient progress in cleaning up lingering quality management problems at the Marion hospital.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin calls that appalling. On Monday, he and other Illinois federal lawmakers planned to meet with the VA inspector general. They’ve already met with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

A quality management team will be at the Marion VA for the next several weeks and will make recommendations to Shinseki.