Letter to Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Regarding VA Medical Crisis

Letter

Dear Secretary Shinseki,

I am writing to express to you my grave concern over recent allegations of patient list manipulation and excessive wait times in Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities across the country, potentially resulting in loss of life. Our brave men and women put their lives on the line for the defense of this great nation, and it is unacceptable that their health would be compromised when they come home due to negligence or incompetency.

I am especially worried that there are other veterans who are waiting for the care they need and whose lives are in danger. This is the most pressing and immediate issue. I am asking that the VA form an immediate plan that will ensure that patients presently waiting for care are attended to and taken care of while the audit takes place over the next three weeks.

I trust that the recommendations from the investigation by the VA Inspector General's office will be acted on so that safeguards are in place to prevent these sorts of incidents from ever happening again. In the long term, it is critical that these safeguards hold the VA accountable and ensure that information relayed to patients is transparent and readily available.

Michigan has well over 700,000 veterans who have put their lives on the line to defend our nation, and the promises made to them must be kept.

With Memorial Day less than two weeks away, I hope we can honor our veterans with the assurance that their lives are not at risk here at home due to failures in our VA system.

I urge you to take swift action to ensure that this sort of crisis never happens again to our veterans, and I look forward to seeing the results from a thorough investigation fully implemented.

Sincerely,

Gary C. Peters

Member of Congress

Source