As Long-Serving Public Official, VA Nominee Entrenched In 'Swamp' Trump Once Said He Wanted To Drain

But many say that's a good thing. “The president is beginning to understand that in order to deal with the swamp, you have to have some people who understand how the swamp works,” said Trent Lott (R., Miss.), a former Senate majority leader. “The idea that anybody who has worked in Washington shouldn’t be involved in Washington is absolutely the wrong way to go.” Robert Wilkie is expected to be approved to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Wall Street Journal: At Veterans Affairs, Trump To Try His Luck With A Washington Insider

The last two secretaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs were private-sector outsiders intent on bringing expertise from beyond Washington’s Capital Beltway into the VA. But Robert Wilkie, President Donald Trump’s presumptive nominee to head the department, is the opposite—a long-serving public official steeped in federal bureaucracy. Mr. Wilkie has decades of experience in government and familiarity with the companies and industries that rely on it, and now is expected to take over a sprawling department that has been on the verge of large-scale changes. (Kesling, 6/15)

In other veterans' health care news —

Boston Globe & USA Today: Secret VA Nursing-Home Ratings Hid Poor Quality Care From Public

Statistics the VA has not released paint a picture of government nursing homes that scored worse on average than their private sector counterparts on nine of 11 key indicators last year, including rates of antipsychotic drug prescription and residents’ deterioration. In some cases, the internal documents show, the VA ratings were only slightly worse. In others, such as the number of residents who are in pain, the VA nursing homes scored dramatically worse. (Estes and Slack, 6/17)

The Oregonian: VA Continues Home Health Care For Disabled Oregon Vet

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to continue to provide in-home health care for a Springfield veteran with Lou Gehrig's disease who needs around-the-clock help and sued the federal agency when it threatened to halt the care. The Veterans Affairs department agreed to contract with Michael Williamson's choice of in-home care providers through a newly formed agency, "Better Horizons.'' If any problems arise, the federal agency will work to meet Williamson's wishes and medical needs, according to their settlement. (Bernstein, 6/16)

Arizona Republic: Prescott VA Nursing Home Ranks Among Worst Nationally, Data Shows

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs Community Living Center in Prescott is ranked near the bottom among VA nursing homes nationwide, according to federal data and evaluations obtained by the USA TODAY Network. ...The Department of Veterans Affairs owns and operates 133 nursing homes in 46 states and has tracked quality statistics at those facilities for years but kept them from the public. (Wagner, 6/17)

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