Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitalized Vets At Risk From Rampant Communications Failures, Spending Waste Under Shulkin's Watch, Report Finds
The Associated Press: Watchdog Report: Failed VA Leadership Put Patients At Risk
"Failed leadership" at the Department of Veterans Affairs during the Obama years put patients at a major hospital at risk, an internal probe finds — another blow to Secretary David Shulkin, who served at the VA then and is fighting to keep his job. The 150-page report released Wednesday by the VA internal watchdog offers new details to its preliminary finding last April of patient safety issues at the Washington, D.C., medical center. (Yen, 3/7)
The Washington Post: VA Chief Outlines Changes At Hospitals Nationwide Following Report On Alleged D.C. Center Mismanagement
Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin on Wednesday announced an overhaul of the senior leadership overseeing almost two dozen troubled hospitals across the country following the release of a searing investigation into what the agency watchdog said were management failures that put patients at VA’s flagship medical center in the District at risk. Shulkin said one senior regional official has been reassigned and two others retired as the agency cleans up management of large hospitals and clinics in the Washington area, New England, Phoenix and parts of California. He also said he has appointed 24 new facility directors in the last year, including in Maryland and Virginia, after outside teams identified low-performing hospitals. (Rein and Wax-Thibodeaux, 3/7)
Modern Healthcare: Shulkin Announces VA Medical Center Shakeup, VA Choice Reforms A Little Closer
"Secretary Shulkin made very clear following a news conference this morning, that the IG's interim report demonstrated failures on a number of levels including medical facilities, hospital networks, and the VA Central Office," the VA wrote in a news release. Shulkin made the announcements at the Washington Medical Center, the site called out this week in a new, scathing report from the VA's Inspector General's Office that said the VA's flagship center consistently failed to meet quality of care, fiscal and management standards. Problems around equipment led to excruciating situations described in detail, such as a skin grafting procedure that had to be done manually and led to the graft not adhering. (Luthi, 3/7)
Concord (N.H.) Monitor: After Calls For Ouster, New England VA Official To Step Down
Another high-ranking Veterans Affairs official in the region is stepping down. VA Secretary David Shulkin announced Wednesday that Dr. Michael Mayo-Smith, the director for the VA New England Healthcare Network, will resign in the coming weeks. The move comes just one day after Democratic U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter publicly called for Mayo-Smith’s removal following reports last year of substandard care at New Hampshire VA facilities.His resignation also arrives on the heels of a new report, released Wednesday by the Inspector General, about widespread problems with oversight at the VA. (Duffort, 3/7)
In other news —
Politico: ‘We Took A Broken System And Just Broke It Completely’
President Donald Trump last year hailed a multibillion-dollar initiative to create a seamless digital health system for active duty military and the VA that he said would deliver “faster, better, and far better quality care.” But the military’s $4.3 billion Cerner medical record system has utterly failed to achieve those goals at the first hospitals that went online. Instead, technical glitches and poor training have caused dangerous errors and reduced the number of patients who can be treated, according to interviews with more than 25 military and VA health IT specialists and doctors, including six who work at the four Pacific Northwest military medical facilities that rolled out the software over the last year. (Allen, 3/8)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans VA Hospital Is Looking To Hire 107 Registered Nurses
The New Orleans VA hospital is looking to hire 107 registered nurses. ...One factor contributing to the boom in nursing positions is the country's population of aging adults, which continues to grow and demand more care. The population of American seniors is expected to grow 60 percent by 2030, from 43.1 million in 2012 to 69 million, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. available in the garage at the corner of Galvez Street and Tulane Avenue. (Clark, 3/7)
