Ohio VA hospital under double federal investigation for lack of patient care

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A Veterans Affairs hospital in Ohio is the subject of two federal investigations due to allegations that hospital officials misused and mismanaged federal programs meant to supplement health care for veterans.

Whistleblowers claim the local Cincinnati Veterans Affairs hospital manipulated and downsized hospital services, forcing patients to enter into the Veterans Choice Program—a program designed to assist veterans who are experiencing long wait times for treatment.

The gain for the hospital, according to an article by a local news organization, is the ability to shuffle the cost of care to a ‘different pot of money,’ allowing the hospital to stay within annual budgets.

“Choice is being provided by a different pot of money,” Susan Ware, a nurse practitioner and 16-year employee of the hospital, said. “If you don’t have a service that you can offer the patient, they go into Choice. The administration doesn’t view it as a cost to our VA, because it’s coming through a federal program.”

A joint investigation by news organizations in Ohio yielded shocking results.

“The Scripps News Washington Bureau and WCPO spent four months investigating issues raised by 34 current and former employees of the Cincinnati VA who detailed a pattern of cost cutting that forced out experienced surgeons, reduced access to care and put patients in harm’s way. Hospital leaders slashed vital surgical services, including most hip, shoulder, spine and knee surgeries. Our findings include allegations of misconduct by high level officials at the local and regional office, which have triggered two federal probes.”

The Choice program was launched in November 2014, a program created as a result of the Phoenix VA scandal, in which veterans were dying while on wait lists for treatment. The VA refers patients to the program, and cost of their care comes out of a $10 billion fund specifically set aside for that purpose.

In February of 2015, VA Network Director Jack Hetrick sent an email to Cincinnati employees, writing to encourage everyone to brainstorm cost-cutting and efficiency ideas, as the hospital was dealing with a budget deficit.

Three months later, according to statement made by whistleblowers to local news agencies, the hospital neurosurgery department was shuttered.

Florida Republican Rep. Jef Miller said the purpose of the Choice program was not meant to be a cost-cutting measure for hospitals.

“To balance their budget based on money that should be going to veterans that can’t get their appointments on time or live too far away is not the true intent of the law,” Miller said. “It’s very disconcerting that there are still those within the department who don’t quite understand that the Choice program was supposed to be a supplement, not to supplant care.”