Letter to Barack Obama, President of the United States - Withdraw VA Nominee With Troubling Record

Letter

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As shocking revelations continue to emerge from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities across the country, there is a growing crisis of competence and trust. Now more than ever, the VA needs leaders who are willing to ask tough questions, cut through red tape, and where necessary turn the VA bureaucracy on its head. The next leader of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) must have the objectivity, the ability, and the will to identify the systemic and cultural problems underlying this crisis and solve them. As such, I write to urge you to withdraw your nomination of Dr. Jeffrey Murawsky to serve as Under Secretary of Health at the VA.

As you know, last month, news reports began to appear regarding dozens of veterans who died while waiting for medical appointments in the Phoenix VA Health Care System. Since that time, numerous individuals have come forward to share similar stories of mistreatment and neglect at VA facilities across the country, including many in Texas. Instead of demonstrating leadership and squarely addressing this issue, you continue to insist that Secretary Shinseki remains capable of reforming the broken VA system. Your reluctance to hold Secretary Shinseki accountable, and his reluctance to hold his subordinates accountable, precludes us from living up to our promises to our nations' heroes. They deserve more than the hollow gesture of the resignation of an undersecretary who already announced his retirement months ago.

Instead of nominating a reformer from outside the VA system who can bring fresh leadership as the next Under Secretary for Health--a key position responsible for overseeing the VHA--you have appointed Dr. Jeffrey A. Murawsky, a career administrator whose own tenure at the VA raises serious concerns. It is my understanding that Dr. Murawsky, employed by the VA since 2001, currently serves as Network Director of the VA Great Lakes Health Care System (VISN 12). In his capacity as Network Director, a position he has held since March 2009, Dr. Murawsky is responsible for oversight of the Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois, as well as numerous other facilities.

Last week, a social worker at Hines reportedly came forward with allegations of more "secret waiting lists" being used by executives there to artificially meet standards and justify bonuses. If substantiated, these allegations would raise very serious questions about Dr. Murawsky's ability to effectively and responsibly lead the health care operations of VISN 12 -- just one of 22 such entities across the VHA that he would oversee, if confirmed by the Senate.

In addition, from February 2010 through February 2012, Dr. Murawsky directly supervised Sharon Helman, the current director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System who has been placed on administrative leave due to similar allegations of secret wait lists and resulting veteran deaths there. During that time, Ms. Helman was employed as the Hospital Director of the Hines VA Hospital, and it has not yet been determined whether her tenure at Hines was characterized by similar malfeasance.

The growing number of reports of veterans suffering and dying as a result of the VA failing in its core mission should be enough to garner your personal attention to addressing this crisis. It is time for immediate and decisive action, and I urge you to begin by withdrawing Dr. Murawsky's nomination and replacing it with an individual who can and will bring real reform to the VHA.

Sincerely,

Source